Global Food Crisis

Income growth, climate change, high energy prices, globalization, and urbanization are transforming the world food situation (International Food Policy Research Institute - IFPRI). Food prices are rising (some have more than doubled) affecting not only the world’s poor, but also communities that had so far been food-secure. "That's the new face of hunger, people who suddenly can no longer afford the food they see on store shelves because prices have soared beyond their reach" (World Food Programme - WFP).

Rising prices also hamper those in need of humanitarian assistance. WFP issued an emergency appeal to reach the people it originally planned to assist this year. According to WFP, high food prices are pushing 130 million people deeper into poverty and hunger. High food prices are believed to remain high, intensifying concerns about food security and risking a "major setback" in the accomplishment of the UN Millennium Development Goals (WFP).

Featured Map: ReliefWeb Coverage: Global Food Security Crisis (March - June 2008)

Latest Updates

10 Feb 2010	AusAID Govt.Australia	$10 million to boost agribusiness in the Pacific
09 Feb 2010	IIED	West African citizens to give verdict on food and agriculture research
09 Feb 2010	ECOSOC	Social dimensions of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (E/CN.5/2010/3)
08 Feb 2010	IFAD	LE FIDA accorde un don de 5,66 millions d'USD aux petits producteurs d’Haϊti
08 Feb 2010	ICVA	Global Humanitarian Platform Background Paper: "Changing environment, growing complexities, increasing demands – implications for humanitarian actors"
07 Feb 2010	UNCT Sudan UNMIS	Sudan: UN Resident Coordinator’s Support Office Joint Weekly Report, 24 - 30 Jan 2010
06 Feb 2010	ECOSOC	Speakers Highlight National Steps Taken to Promote ‘Social Integration’ in Face of Economic Crisis, as Social Development Commission Concludes General Debate
05 Feb 2010	FEWS NET USAID	EAST AFRICA Regional Food Security Outlook January to June 2010
05 Feb 2010	IRIN	SOUTHERN AFRICA: Snapshot of food security
05 Feb 2010	Reuters - AlertNet	U.N. cuts food rations in Yemen due to lack of funds

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Latest updates are on the impact of food issues on current humanitarian situations covered by ReliefWeb.

Latest Maps

29 Jan 2010	FAO FSAU	Somalia - Estimated Nutrition Situation January 2010 (PDF, 1476 Kb)
28 Jan 2010	ITHACA WFP	Haiti Earthquake: Regional Logistics (as of 20 Jan 2010) (PDF, 237 Kb)
21 Jan 2010	OCHA	Somalia - Food Aid Distributions (December 2009) (PDF, 348 Kb)
14 Jan 2010	FEWS NET USAID	The USAID FEWS NET Weather Hazards Impacts Assessment for Africa (January 14, 2009 - January 20, 2009) (PDF, 291 Kb)
13 Jan 2010	FEWS NET	Global Food Security Outlook - Most Likely Scenario (Oct 2009 - Mar 2010) (PDF, 4294 Kb)

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Latest maps are on the impact of food issues on current humanitarian situations covered by ReliefWeb.

Resources

The Secretary-General's High-Level Task Force

- Global Food Security Crisis

World Food Programme
- WFP Crisis Page: High Food Prices

Food and Agriculture Organization
- Policy measures taken by governments to reduce the impact of soaring prices
- FSN Forum: Soaring Food Prices Space
- World Food Situation
- Countries in crisis requiring external assistance, (as of Dec 2008)

World Health Organization
- Health impacts of the global food security crisis

International Food Policy Research Institute
- Rising Food Prices

World Bank
- Food Price Crisis

Overseas Development Institute
- Food

Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
- In Depth: Food Crisis - Status and Impacts

Famine Early Warning Systems Network
- FEWS NET

BBC
- Food price crisis

Financial Times
- The rising cost of food

Reuters
- Agflation

openDemocracy
- The Food Crisis

Oxfam GB
- Global Food Crisis

Key Documents

Food and Agriculture Organization
- The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008: High food prices and food security – threats and opportunities
- Declaration of the High-Level Conference on World Food Security: The challenges of climate change and bioenergy

The Secretary-General's High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis
- High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Crisis: Comprehensive Framework for Action
- The UN system reponse to the world food security crisis (as of September 2008)

World Food Programme
- Rising food prices: Impact on the hungry

Washington Post
- The New Face Of Hunger, by Ban Ki-moon

IFPRI, German Agro Action, Concern Worldwide
- Global Hunger Index: The Challenge of Hunger 2008

Overseas Development Institute
- Rising Food Prices: A Global Crisis

Refugees International
- The effects of rising food costs on refugees and IDPs

Save the Children
- Global crisis in food prices increases vulnerability of children

Welthungerhilfe - German Agro Action
- The ten point plan: Demands of the Welthungerhilfe to overcome the global food crisis

Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement
- Rising food prices and displacement

The Economist
- The silent tsunami

AlertNet insight
- What can we do to end the food crisis?

Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP)
- The Global Food Price Crisis: Lessons and Ideas for Relief Planners and Managers

Frequently Asked Questions

Food and Agriculture Organization
- The ten most Frequently Asked Questions about the recent rise in food prices

International Monetary Fund
- Impact of High Food and Fuel Prices on Developing Countries - Frequently Asked Questions

Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
- Global: Why everything costs more - A rough guide to why food prices keep going up

Figures

BBC
- The cost of food: facts and figures