![]() Date: 2024-08-16 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00002941 | |||||||||
Sector ... Food | |||||||||
COMMENTARY | |||||||||
Are we heading for a global food crisis? As drought takes its toll on US crops, we ask if it is time to reassess the global food market.
For weeks the US has been suffering its most extensive drought in half a century. And meteorologists expect the severe conditions to continue. 'The monopolies have created dependency and they control the global [food] market … and you have tremendous market power concentrated into just a very few hands … they will hoard, they'll hold back grain, and they buy low and sell high.' - Eric Holt-Gimenez, the executive director of FoodFirstThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released an animation showing how the drought has expanded since the beginning of this year, particularly affecting the US heartland, known as the breadbasket of the country and the world. The US dominates the global corn market but the US Department of Agriculture has predicted a sharp drop in corn exports, with prices for corn and soybeans already hitting record highs. At least 87 per cent of all US corn and soybean crops are grown in drought-stricken regions. Corn is what is called a mega-crop used in the production of everything from meat to cereal to sugary drinks and fuel. As a result, rising prices have the potential to lead to another global food crisis. 'What a globalised food system allows is to source food from many different places …. An open, globalised trading system provides a lot of additional security rather than relying on your internal market.' - Charlotte Hebebrand from the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy CouncilThe 2008 food crisis was triggered by a sharp rise in the cost of wheat and rice. That sparked protests in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. It will be months before the impact of the US drought is fully known but farmers are already bracing for the worst. On this episode of Inside Story Americas we ask: Will the US drought lead to another global food crisis? And what does it tell us about the current structure of the world food system? Joining the discussion with presenter Shihab Rattansi are guests: Francesco Femia, the founding director of the Center for Climate and Security; Charlotte Hebebrand, the chief executive of the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council; and Eric Holt-Gimenez, the executive director of FoodFirst, also known as the Institute for Food and Development Policy. 'What we're likely to see over the next 10 to 20 years is more extreme weather of this kind. It's difficult to say that this particular drought [in the US] was due to climate change .... [But] we need to be very conscious of some shocks coming out of climatic changes.' - Francesco Femia from the Center for Climate and SecurityTHE IMPACT OF THE US DROUGHT:
Source: Al Jazeera |