APRC Press Release - Mitigating food price volatility in Asia-Pacific
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APRC
Mitigating food price volatility in Asia-Pacific
Agricultural ministers meeting in South Korea
Gyeongju, Republic of Korea, 25 September 2010 – Volatile food prices and market uncertainties are urgent topics high on the minds of agriculture ministers and senior officials from forty-four Asia-Pacific countries when they will be meeting at an FAO conference in Gyeongju next week.
While there is no indication of an impending world food crisis, FAO is warning that unexpected price hikes are a major threat to food security for the poor in the Asia-Pacific region.
Exploring new measures to check food price volatility and manage associated risks requires further work to address the root causes of food insecurity.
Recent major crop failures followed by national policy responses and speculative behavior rather than global market fundamentals have been main factors behind the recent escalation of world food prices and the prevailing high price volatility, FAO said.
In contrast with steep price increases in wheat (by 60 to 80 percent) and maize (by 40 percent), rice prices rose by only seven percent from July to September.
But even at these higher levels, cereal prices are still one third below their peaks in 2008.
Seriously affected by higher international food prices are low-income food-deficit countries that import wheat, maize or rice – such as, in the Asia region, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Mongolia and Pakistan.
But foremost, the poorest segments of society who spend a large part of the household budget on foods – sometimes up to 50-60 percent – will be hit hardest.
FAO stresses that national food security policies in place in individual countries largely determine the impact of higher international food prices on consumers.
Food price hikes have not been across the board, with prices climbing sharply in some countries but dropping in others.
In Asia, domestic price trends for rice, the main food in the region, were mixed: in Bangladesh and Viet Nam prices increased in August and early September but declined in the Philippines, Thailand and Sri Lanka.
The FAO regional conference for Asia and the Pacific takes place at a time when most countries in the region are experiencing remarkable economic recoveries. But hunger remains widespread and hundreds of millions of poor people are vulnerable to dramatic spikes in food prices or otherwise cannot have access to food, indicating deep structural problems in the region’s food security mechanisms
The Asia and Pacific region is home to 578 million hungry people, some two-thirds of the world’s hungry.
Despite Asia and the Pacific region’s impressive gains in achieving several of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, the region is falling behind in the crucial areas of hunger and food security.
Addressing food insecurity in the medium and longer terms requires courageous steps on the part of concerned governments and international organizations to help unlock untapped agricultural production potential rapidly boost food production and investment in agricultural infrastructure.
These efforts to stepping up agricultural production should be combined with targeted and reliable safety net systems providing access to food for the poorest of the poor.
Ensuring food security requires collective action involving a large range of key players in the food chain.
In conjunction with the FAO conference, a consultation of Civil Society Organizations will be held on Monday and Tuesday 27 and 28 September – see http://csomtgfaoaprckorea.blogspot.com
A CSO delegation will present a statement about the outcome of this consultation to the FAO ministerial meeting later in the week.
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For more information about the 30th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific, see http://www.fao.org/world/regional/rap/conference_30th_APRC.asp
Media accreditation and registration : http://www.fao.org/world/regional/rap/conference_30th_APRC_News_room.asp
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