The Global Recession Threatening Food Security
Lack of Access to Food is Increasing Hunger in Developing Countries
Jun 10, 2009
The Global Financial Crisis, which started as a subprime crisis, spread recession rapidly around the world. The Global Recession, shrinking the global economy is having a major impact on trade and the price of living.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the subprime crisis originally bypassed banks in low-income countries, but they are now finding themselves cut off from access to global finance. The IMF pinpointed 26 countries that are the most vulnerable in the economic crisis, with African countries the hardest hit.
The IMF’s managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that the worsening economic conditions would increase the humanitarian crisis in developing countries. The World Bank estimates that this would result in an extra 2.8 million children across the world dying.
What is Food Security?
The Global Recession has had a direct impact on the rising costs of food and fuel prices. With these rising prices came an increase in the incidence and severity of hunger in developing countries.
Rising food prices, coupled with a general food shortage in developing countries is having a disastrous affect on food security for people in developing nations. People in poorer communities are becoming more exposed to fluctuations in prices.
In addition, the shrinking incomes of poor families as a result of the Global Recession means that people in poor communities are loosing access to food. As their purchasing power shrinks, they are eating less and health systems are failing.
Speaking at The Centre for Strategic and International Studies Task Force on Food Security, Josette Sheeran from the World Food Programme calls it the ‘silent tsunami’ because of the way it dramatically decreased food access for many people in poorer nations due to the sudden increase in food prices.
What is Being Done about Food Security?
Governments are now recognising that the economic crisis is becoming a human security crisis and are addressing it in their humanitarian policies. World leaders are working through international organisations such as the United Nations to fight the threat of food security in developing countries.
The G-20 in their London meeting in April, 2009 set to address the issue of lowering the blow of the global recession on low-income countries by doubling the amount of concessional lending available to the world’s poorest countries. This sparked controversy about how much this lending would really help poorer countries address issues like food security.
Civil society is also important in fighting the threat of food security and food shortages. Many not-for-profit groups are lobbying governments and creating programs to tackle the issue. PLAN Australia, for example, have started a Food Security Appeal to raise funds to provide emergency food relief and food and nutrition programs.
The globalisation of everything from technology to trade to economies and food means that as long as the global financial crisis worsens, food security for everyone, but more so in the developing world, will be threatened.
References
Colebatch, Tim (2009) “Calamity Looms for Low-Income Nations”, The Age 5 March, 2009.
