[prakruti] Biofuel Production Criminal Path to Global Food Crisis : UN

[Guest guest]

At 12:25 PM 4/28/08, you wrote:

>Dear Colleagues,

>

>In last one year food prices have skyrocketted by 40 to 70% worldwide

>depriving the basic food to the havenots aqnd disadvantaged. The

>result of public policy of rich nations to extend support to giant business

>houses and automobile industry promoting suicidal consumism.

>

>Best wishes.

>

>--

>Kisan Mehta Priya Salvi

>Save Bombay Committee and Prakruti

>c/o Rajiv Mehta

>1203, Kanchanjunga Wing " A " ,

>Plot 20, Sector 11,Koparkhairne,

>Navi Mumbai 400709, India.

>www.savebombaycommittee.org

>Kisan Mehta: 0091 9223448857

>Priya Salvi: 0091 9324027494

>

>

>UN: Biofuel Production 'Criminal Path' to Global Food Crisis

>GENEVA, Switzerland, April 28, 2008 (ENS) - The United States and the

>European Union have taken a " criminal path " by contributing to an

>explosive rise in global food prices through using food crops to produce

>biofuels, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food said

>today.

>At a press conference in Geneva, Jean Ziegler of Switzerland said that

>fuel policies pursued by the U.S. and the EU were one of the main causes

>of the current worldwide food crisis.

>Ziegler was speaking before a meeting in Bern, Switzerland between UN

>Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the heads of key United Nations agencies.

>

>Jean Ziegler of Switzerland is UN special rapporteur on the right to food

>and a professor of sociology at the University of Geneva and at the

>Sorbonne in Paris. (Photo courtesy FAO)

>Ziegler said that last year the United States used a third of its corn

>crop to create biofuels, while the European Union is planning to have 10

>percent of its petrol supplied by biofuels.

>The Special Rapporteur has called for a five-year moratorium on the

>production of biofuels.

>Ziegler also said that speculation on international markets is behind 30

>percent of the increase in food prices.

>He said that companies such as Cargill, which controls a quarter of all

>cereal production, have enormous power over the market. He added that

>hedge funds are also making huge profits from raw materials markets, and

>called for new financial regulations to prevent such speculation.

>The Special Rapporteur warned of worsening food riots and a " horrifying "

>increase in deaths by starvation before reforms could take effect.

>Meanwhile, speaking in Rome today, a nutritionist with the UN World Food

>Programme said that " global price rises mean that food is literally being

>taken out of the mouths of hungry children whose parents can no longer

>afford to feed them. "

>Andrew Thorne-Lyman said that even temporarily depriving children of the

>nutrients they need to grow and thrive can leave permanent scars in terms

>of stunting their physical growth and intellectual potential.

>He said that families in the developing world are " finding their buying

>power has been slashed by food price rises, meaning that they can buy less

>food or food which isn't as nutritious. "

>But not everyone agrees. Toni Nuernberg, executive director of the Ethanol

>Promotion and Information Council based in Omaha, Nebraska, says, " I can

>unequivocally state that ethanol does not take food from the mouths of

>starving people. "

> " Ethanol production uses field corn - most of which is fed to livestock

>with only a small percentage going into cereals and snacks. In fact, only

>the starch portion of the corn kernel is used to produce ethanol. The

>vitamins, minerals, proteins and fiber are converted to other products

>including sweeteners, corn oil and high-value livestock feed - feed which

>helps livestock producers add to the overall food supply, " said Nuernberg

>on Tuesday.

>

>Constructed in 1993 in the state of Minnesota, Corn Plus is one of the 110

>ethanol production plants operating in the United States. (Photo courtesy

>Corn Plus)

>Nuernberg relates rising energy costs to food bills, as growers fuel

>tractors and machinery and truckers transport foodstuffs to market.

> " The United States spends roughly one billion dollars a day on imported

>oil. A fraction of these funds would more than make up for the shortfall

>in the World Food Program, " Nuernberg said. " Ethanol is just one element

>in our drive to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. It should not be a

>convenient scapegoat for global issues beyond our control. "

>A World Bank report issued April 9 agrees with the UN officials. According

>to " Rising Food Prices: Policy Options and World Bank Response, " increases

>in global wheat prices reached 181 percent over the 36 months leading up

>to February 2008, and overall global food prices increased by 83 percent.

>Increased bio-fuel production has contributed to the rise in food prices,

>according to this report. Concerns over oil prices, energy security and

>climate change have prompted governments to increase bio-fuel production

>and use leading to greater demand for raw materials including: wheat, soy,

>maize and palm oil.

>Food price hikes are also linked to higher energy and fertilizer prices, a

>weak dollar and export bans.

>The Group of Eight, G8, will take up this matter at its annual meeting in

>July. The meeting will be attended by the leaders of the eight countries -

>Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the

>United States - the same countries said by Ziegler to be on a " criminal path. "

>Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, as chair of the G8, expressed his intention

>to raise the matter at the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit in letters to UN

>Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Robert Zoellick on

>April 18.

>Rapid increases in the large-scale production of liquid biofuels in

>developing countries could increase the marginalization of women in rural

>areas, threatening their livelihoods, according to a new study by the UN

>Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO.

> " Unless policies are adopted in developing countries to strengthen the

>participation of small farmers, especially women in biofuel production by

>increasing their access to land, capital and technology - gender

>inequalities are likely to become more marked and women's vulnerability to

>hunger and poverty further exacerbated, " said Yianna Lambrou, co-author of

>the paper, " Gender and Equity Issues in Liquid Biofuels Production -

>Minimizing the Risks to Maximize the Opportunities. "

> " Biofuel production certainly offers opportunities for farmers - but they

>will only trickle down to the farm level, especially to women, if pro-poor

>policies are put in place that also empower women, " said Lambrou.

>Analysis being carried out by the world's largest international food aid

>organization supports World Bank estimates that about 100 million people

>have been pushed deeper into poverty by the high food prices.

>The UN World Food Programme, WFP, aims to feed 73 million people globally

>this year, but the agency now estimates it needs at least US$500 million

>more than anticipated last year to meet its 2008 operational budget of

>US$3.4 billion.

>The half-billion dollar increase is solely due to the sharp hike in food

>and transport costs over the last few months.

>

>On a recent visit to east Africa, WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran

>met children at the Stara Rescue Centre and School in the Nairobi slum of

>Kibera. (Photo courtesy WFP)

>WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran of the United States says that high

>food prices are creating the biggest challenge that WFP has faced in its

>45 year history, a " silent tsunami " of hunger.

>Sheeran said that WFP could only fill a cup with half the food that it

>could last year because of rising food prices.

> " The response calls for large-scale, high-level action by the global

>community, focused on emergency and longer-term solutions, " she said.

>WFP is urging a comprehensive approach where all parties, from governments

>to UN agencies to nongovernmental organizations, all work together.

>Alongside other partners, WFP will follow a three-track response. In the

>short term, WFP will seek full funding for targeted food safety nets and

>mother-child health programs in extreme situations. School feeding

>programs will be scaled up and used as a platform for urgent, nutritional

>interventions.

>In the medium term, WFP will offer its huge logistics capacity to support

>life-saving distribution networks. Every hour of the day, WFP has 30 ships

>on the high seas, 5,000 trucks on the ground and 70 aircraft in the sky,

>delivering food to the hungry. Cash and voucher programs will be supported

>and so will local purchases from small farmers, helping them to afford

>inputs and sustain livelihoods;

>In the longer term, WFP will support policy reform and provide advice and

>technical support to governments engaging in agricultural development

>programs.

>Many governments are already taking action. Some are expanding targeted

>safety nets, such as cash transfer programs to vulnerable groups,

>food-for-work programs, or emergency food aid distribution. Several

>countries have lowered tariffs and other taxes on key staples, in order to

>provide some relief to consumers.

>Other countries have put in place export bans, which are detrimental to

>food importers and reduce incentives for production.

>Food crop prices are expected to remain high in 2008 and 2009 and then

>begin to decline, but they are likely to remain well above the 2004 levels

>through 2015 for most food crops.

>Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2008. All rights reserved.

 

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