Free movement of food can save lives of hungry billion

How to feed nine billion people by 2050 has been a big worry since food prices rose drastically in 2007-08.

But any fight against hunger must deal with the one billion people who lack food right now.

Calls for “new thinking” and a lot more money appear in a report for a 1,000-delegate Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development, this week in Montpellier, France.

The world could need 70 to 100 per cent more food over the next four decades to meet demand from population growth and from higher incomes in such countries as India and China.

But those calling for radical change ignore two things.

Hybrid seeds

Firstly, the world has drastically increased food output before.

With discoveries like hybrid seeds, we were able to grow twice as much cereal on the same land.

China increased food production by 3.5 over the past 50 years.

Food production far outstripped population growth in the 20th century, despite widespread pessimism.

And the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says there is enough land and water to allow this to continue through the 21st century. Secondly, hunger is mainly caused by bad government policies, from import restrictions to internal duties and lack of property rights, keeping prices artificially high.

Cruel policies

Barriers to trade are four times higher in developing countries than in rich countries: the average tariffs on agricultural products in the developing world were 15.2 percent in 2001 — compared to 2.8 per cent in high-income OECD countries. These counterproductive and cruel policies push up the price of food amid widespread malnutrition.

These policies also cause waste. Some 30 to 40 per cent of food in India, Africa and other developing regions is lost because of poor infrastructure, poor storage and bureaucratic delays, especially at customs.

Despite adequate supplies, rice peaked above all others due to an Indian ban on rice exports which caused panic buying among importers.

Removing barriers to the production and movement of food and technology would be a cheap and easy step towards feeding the world.

Boin is a project director at International Policy Network, London, an independent think-tank working on economic development.