A hungry man is an angry man
Food prices have increased by an estimated 40 percent globally since 2007. This increase has had a disproportionate effect on many developing nations, where families often spend more than half their income on food. The situation is particularly troublesome in countries such as Nigeria, Vietnam and Indonesia, where the percentage of income spent on food is respectively 73, 65 and 50 percent, as reported recently by the New York Times. As a result riots have taken place in several countries as people protest the rising food prices.
The IMF published a brief analysis last month predicting that the social implications in Sub-Saharan Africa may be severe. It also points to long term and temporary factors – including rising biofuels production and droughts – contributing to the current increase in food prices as well as guiding policy responses.
Oh, the Bob Marley tune that inspired the title of this blog post goes on to say that a "hungry mob is an angry mob." How is that for a policy-guiding principle?
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Here in the Philippines, the queue for government-subsidised rice is getting longer as regular rice prices are at least 20% higher compared to their end-2007 levels.
Government spending of tax money is wrong. It spends big amount on rice price subsidy and little on farm roads and irrigation. And its no-time table agrarian reform program (should have ended 1998, extended to 2008,to be extended again!) is among the contributors to agri investment. Some agri-businessmen don't want to expand production much because when the land becomes productive, the state's agrarian reform bureaucrats might come up to them and say, "hey, we're getting your land and give it to the workers".
And if I may add, Bruce Springsteen has a song, "Everybody's got a hungry heart" :-}
Posted by: Nonoy Oplas, Philippines | Apr 10, 2008 10:07:13 PM
Something has got to change. Things are getting way out of hand.
Posted by: Jennifer | Apr 11, 2008 11:37:31 PM
In my country, Ukraine, food prices also have increased by ~70 percent last tree years. :(
Posted by: Andrew | Apr 17, 2008 5:22:12 PM
Unfortunately, things may get worse before they become better. The recent credit crunch in the USA which is now turning into a World credit squeeze may hinder any short term lending for agricultural purposed in developing regions and hit next years crop supplies.
Posted by: Chris Moyseos | Apr 21, 2008 1:34:00 AM
The article is an eye opener to the present economic system. As long as the mother earth, which has provided enormous free resourses for its 6.3 billion children,is able to see that all of them sleep with adequate food, would not tolerate the sin commited by those responsible for it.There is need to build a common fund where all resourseful individual need to contribute irrespective of his or her citizenship in the form of global tax apart from national tax. The revenue so generated should be earmarked for hungry people with an annual budget. The mechanism should work on voluntary basis with zero expenditure as part of corporate social responsibility by MNCs and by fortune billionnairs.If this is not done in time we would be converting hungry turned angry men as terrorist and militants. Come and join hands as early as possible to remove this menace of hunger from the earth.
Posted by: Dr. D R Agarwal | Apr 24, 2008 3:24:39 AM