The Unnatural Coupling: Food and Global Finance

FOCUS

The 2008 global food price fluctuations -- especially the policies on bio-fuel and the neglect of agriculture -- led to a food crisis in developing countries which in turn reduced the ability of vulnerable groups to buy food.

    FACTOIDS

  1. Lack of public investment in agriculture and agriculture research is associated with low to poor yield increases, especially in tropical agriculture, and falling productivity of land.

  2. Costs of cultivation in developing countries have increased with farmers finding it difficult to access institutional credit and forced to opt for expensive informal credit networks.

  3. Ecological implications of pollution and climate change have been ignored by policy makers.

  4. Since 2008, retail or wholesale prices of food commodities has not fallen in developing countries and continue to increase.

AUTHOR

Jayati Ghosh

COPYRIGHT

Jayati Ghosh, Professor, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi, jayatig@vsnl.com, jayatijnu@gmail.com

 

PUBLICATION DATE

01 Aug, 2009

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