World food price crisis 'here to stay'
David BlairLondon Telegraph Monday, May 19, 2008
High food prices are here to stay and the world needs a "green revolution" to feed its rising population, the senior humanitarian official at the United Nations has told The Telegraph.
Sir John Holmes, Britain's former ambassador to Paris who now serves as the UN's under-secretary for humanitarian affairs, said structural changes in the global economy are the cause of the sudden rise in food prices.
"It is possible that in the next two or three years prices will come down a bit from the peaks we've seen in the last few months – but not to where they were before," he said.
Sir John said the emergence of hundreds of millions of middle class consumers in China and India has increased demand for food. High oil prices make transporting food more expensive. The supply of grain has been hit by bad weather and the transfer of land to grow biofuels instead of food crops.
With the global population forecast to reach nine billion by 2050 compared with six billion today, Sir John said, the world needed a "green revolution", especially in Africa.
David BlairLondon Telegraph Monday, May 19, 2008
High food prices are here to stay and the world needs a "green revolution" to feed its rising population, the senior humanitarian official at the United Nations has told The Telegraph.
Sir John Holmes, Britain's former ambassador to Paris who now serves as the UN's under-secretary for humanitarian affairs, said structural changes in the global economy are the cause of the sudden rise in food prices.
"It is possible that in the next two or three years prices will come down a bit from the peaks we've seen in the last few months – but not to where they were before," he said.
Sir John said the emergence of hundreds of millions of middle class consumers in China and India has increased demand for food. High oil prices make transporting food more expensive. The supply of grain has been hit by bad weather and the transfer of land to grow biofuels instead of food crops.
With the global population forecast to reach nine billion by 2050 compared with six billion today, Sir John said, the world needed a "green revolution", especially in Africa.
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