Arab world must address food crisis, says PM

Thursday, 6 March 2008 2:05 PM

Concerns over food shortages in the Arab world are of paramount importance, according to Bahrain’s Prime Minister, who again called for the implementation of a common strategy to protect against an imminent crisis.

“We need to draw lessons from the current spiralling inflation hitting the world and start seriously thinking about ensuring food security in the Arab world, particularly that our countries have immense potential and resources that can be used to ensure a better future for our people,” UAE daily Gulf News quoted Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa as saying.

“The hike in commodity prices was sparked by decisions by the producing countries,” Sheikh Khalifa said, adding that Arab countries "needed to achieve self-sufficiency in food-production and reduce dependence”.

Rapidly increasing demand from developing nations such as China and India has driven up prices internationally, with the cost of soft commodities like wheat, corn and sugar reaching record levels in recent trading.

Droughts and floods in the world’s largest food producing nations - the US, Australia, Canada and China - have also stifled crop forecasts, adding further upward pressure to prices.

In January, Sheikh Khalifa urged GCC member states to present a united front to battle soaring food prices across the Gulf by using the newly-established common market as a launching point to develop a common strategic food stock.

The Arab Organisation for Agricultural Development said Arab countries imported $10 billion worth of food products per year, placing enormous pressure on locals in the region as global prices rise.

Gulf residents have struggled as runaway prices add to the mounting pressure of inflation, which has hit record levels across the region.

The tumbling value of the dollar, to which most Gulf States have their currencies pegged, has also been blamed for the escalating cost of living.

The falling US currency has reduced Gulf States’ purchasing power at a time when sourcing goods from economies with strong currencies such as the euro zone.

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Posted by: Faust Monday, 17 March 2008 2:02 AM[UAE]

As an American Farmer I find it somewhat amusing that Arabs are worried about food security. Soon the US will switch to a cleaner fuel source. Brazil did it, and we will do it. I think you should reconsider your war on the "Great Satan". I am sure that food in this world is worth much more than the oil being pumped from wells in your country.

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Posted by: RAJENDRA ANEJA Monday, 10 March 2008 4:31 PM[UAE] - UAE

Ms. Josette Sheeran, head of the UN World Food Programme has done well to press the alarm bell that international food reserves are at their lowest level in the last 30 years. She warned that WFP may have to ration foods due to shortages reasons for the shortages according to her are energy and grain prices, impact of climate change and the emerging demand for biofuels. According to her, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and El Salvador are already seeing inflation in food prices. She has further indicated that the rise in basic food costs could continue until 2010. Yes we could be headed for serious shortages in foods and resultant inflationary pressures. Besides climatic conditions and diversion of grains for bio-fuels, living standards have improved and people are eating more. There are lesser people below the poverty line. We need to augment food production by about 15 to 20 % pa, regularly for the next 3 years. Or, we may witness violence in the poorer societies of the world. This is a crucial issue confronting world leaders. Many restaurants have already raised prices of foods by 25 to 30%. This is impacting shopping. Consumers may downgrade their foods purchases in terms of quality in the first phase. In the next phase, they may cut our periphery food items like fruits, soups, ice-creams etc. Finally we may witness declines in consumption.

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Posted by: Glory Saturday, 8 March 2008 12:45 PM[UAE] - UAE

As the UAE is heavily dependent of food importation of items like wheat, rice and sugar, in addition to fodder for animals it would be in their interest to contact growers direct and buy from them. They could form a consortium of growers who dedicated their livelihood to providing the needs of the UAE. An alternative would be to purchase sugar mills, Tea and Coffee plantations, cattle ranches and grain farms, etc - ensuring supply AND price control.

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