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Huge rise in food prices foreseen

— Photo: AFP

SHADES OF Third World: Volunteers serve food prepared by the New York City Coalition Against Hunger in New York city.

New York: A top U.N. agency has warned food prices may increase by 30-35 per cent within the next 10 years — forcing those living in extreme poverty to spend 90 per cent of their income on it — if major changes are not made in food production and processing system.

A report released by the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) has noted that changing the ways in which food is produced, handled and disposed of across the globe from farm to store and from fridge to landfill can both feed the world’s rising population and help the environmental services.

“We need a Green Revolution in a Green Economy but one with a capital G,” said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner. “We need to deal with not only the way the world produces food but the way it is distributed, sold and consumed and we need a revolution that can boost yields by working with rather than against nature.”

He noted over half of the food produced today is lost, wasted or discarded as a result of inefficiency in the human-managed food chain. “There is evidence within the report that the world could feed the entire projected population growth alone by becoming more efficient while also ensuring the survival of wild animals, birds and fish on this planet,” said Mr. Steiner.

The report also underscores the fact that over one-third of the world’s cereal harvest is being used as animal feed and by 2050 the ratio will rise to 50 per cent. “Continuing to feed cereals to growing numbers of livestock will aggravate poverty and environmental degradation,” UNEP warned. Among the key points in its plan, the report suggests recycling food wastes and deploying new technologies aimed at producing biofuels to produce sugars from discards like straw and nutshells could be a key environment-friendly alternative to increased use of cereals for livestock.

Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appealed to Environment Ministers gathered in Nairobi to help promote a green economy to tackle climate change and wasteful resource consumption, as well as re-energise economies, creating opportunities for new and better livelihoods. — PTI

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