More concerns of food prices, right on cue, our global promoters the UN are stepping in to understand and assess the issue. The article lays outs some of the extent of the problem and areas that may be impacted the most…
According to a Wikipedia list of famines, the past 500 years have also witnessed an increase in the frequency of famines:
15th Century – 6 famines
16th Century – 10 famines
17th Century – 24 famines
18th Century – 28 famines
19th Century – 30 famines
20th Century – 44 famines
The first decade of the 21st Century alone has already witnessed 12 famines, putting humanity on course for 120 famines over the next one hundred year period.
Have these famines increased in intensity and severity? Yes.
Revelation 6:6 (NIV) – “Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
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UN holds key meeting on food price concerns
The BBC’s Jeremy Cooke examines the impact of wheat shortages on farmers and speculators in the US.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is holding an extraordinary meeting in Rome sparked by global fears about high food prices.
Friday’s meeting will include Russian grain executives. Moscow banned exports after its harvest was hit by drought.
Flooding in Pakistan and China has added to pressure on the market.
Price rises have already sparked riots in Mozambique and are prompting fears of a massive price spike similar to that of 2007-8.
Volatile prices
The FAO is not calling this a crisis summit, eager to steady nerves after the Russian grain export ban, says the BBC’s international development correspondent David Loyn.
The UN agency has stressed that the current situation is very different to the food crisis two years ago. Prices are currently lower, production levels higher and stocks more abundant than during the 2007-8 period.
However, experts in Rome will try to find a way to restore stability and head off another price spike, which caused riots across the world two years ago.
Global grain prices remain at a two-year high and are still rising. Rising incomes in developing countries have also boosted demands for meat.
WHEAT FUTURES US CENTS/BUSHEL
Last Updated at 24 Sep 2010, 12:15 ET
price change % 711.50 + +14.25+ +2.04Top FAO officials describe prices as stubbornly high and say the financial crisis is straining the ability of the poor to cope.
The agency also warns that prices in future are likely to be more volatile.
Officials say governments should consider more regulation of food markets and maintaining emergency stocks.
The FAO’s own monthly index of food prices has risen by 25% since early last year.
The UN said of the meeting: “Delegates will share information on recent market instability and examine the role of market information and transparency for crops such as grains and rice.”
Rises will be felt more keenly in developing countries, where food makes up a bigger proportion of household spending.
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