Events & Issues
New Delhi, 6 May 2008
Global Food Crisis
DON’T PASS THE BUCK,
MR. BUSH
By Radhakrishna Rao
The US President George W. Bush’s recent observation that
the growing prosperity of an
upwardly mobile Indian middle class is to blame for the global food crisis
appears far-fetched and totally in
variance with the prevailing ground
reality.
“Worldwide there is
an increasing
demand for food. There turns out to be prosperity in
developing world which is good. It
is going to be good for you because
you will be selling products in the countries, you know, big countries perhaps,
and it is hard to sell products into
countries that are not prosperous…It,
also, however increases
the demand”, was Bush’ words of wisdom.
He elaborated saying “So for example, just as an interesting
thought for you, there are 350-million people in
India who are classified as middle class. That is bigger than America. Their middle class is larger than our entire
population .And when you start getting
wealth, you start demanding better
nutrition and better food and so demand is high and that causes prices to go
up”. Of course, Bush also cited changes in
climatic patterns and spiraling energy costs as some of the other contributors
to the global food price spiral.
Prior to what is being termed as a highly objectionable
statement by the head of the world’s largest economy, US Secretary of State
Condoleeza Rice had created a near controversy by saying that the global food
price spiral was partly due to the growing
intake of food in countries like India and China.
The distorted thesis of Bush and
Rice that the severe food crisis haunting a large part of the world was a direct outcome of measures taken by
India and China to keep the foodgrains
within the confines
of their countries by imposing
severe export restrictions.
Right from the outset the Bush administration
has been blaming “event and
developments” outside its home country as the causative factors for problems
haunting the US. The
uncalled for bloody intervention in Iraq
is but one of the many instances of
the 21st century avatar of the so called “gun boat diplomacy”
perfected by the Bush Administration.
Surprisingly, while throwing
blame at the doorsteps of India
and China
for the current food crisis affecting
a large section of the global population, Bush would not agree with the widely
held view that the growing diversion
of corn produced in the US for the
production of ethanol as a fuel alternative was pushing
up food prices. “I don’t subscribe to the notion that ethanol is the main cost driver. The reason why food prices are
higher is, because, energy costs are high. And if you are a farmer you are going to pass on the cost in
the product you sell to the buyers” quipped Bush.
However, food policy analysts from across the world have been driving
home the point that diversion of
food crops for the production of eco- friendly and cost-efficient bio fuels is
a major contributor to the foodgrains’ shortage experienced by the world at
large. Similarly, there has been a
serious concern over the diversion of
prime farm land meant for growing
food crops to raise oil yielding
crops .Against
this backdrop, the competition between food and fuel is likely to hit the developing countries much harder that the industrialised
nations.
Rightly, Defence Minister
A.K.Antony has described Bush’s hollow argument as a “cruel joke”. Antony was clear in his perception that the widespread conversion of
agricultural land for commercial and bio-fuel cultivation purposes had, in fact, resulted in
food shortage at the global level. ”Policies of the US have also been responsible for
foodgrains shortage. Those who criticize should not set apart farm land for
other purposes .The countries including the US should rectify these mistakes” he
observed.
The argument put forth by Antony
receives support from the recent FAO (Food and Agricultural Organisation) data
which pins the blame on the US for the fast-spreading
global food crisis. In fact, FAO data revealed in
clear terms that the consumption of cereals is growing
far more rapidly in the US than in
India or China. A fact-filled
study of the global food market by FAO states that the consumption of cereals
by India is projected to
have grown 2.17 per cent from 193.1-million tonnes in
2006-07 to 197.3- million tonnes in
2007-08, while that in neighbouring China it had
gone up 1.8 per cent from 382.2-million tonnes to 389.1-million tonnes. More
importantly, during the same period
the consumption of cereals in the US has been
projected to have grown 11.81 per cent from 277.6-million tonnes to
310.4-million tonnes.
Indeed, following
the skyrocketing of oil prices in the global market, the US has been forced to use
30-million tonnes of corn to make bio-fuel. “About 30-million tonnes of corn
was used in the US to produce
biofuels last year,” observed Asia Director, International Food Policy Research
Institute, Ashok Gulati. Though the demand for foodgrains in the Indian market has been going up, the situation has been made worse by serious
supply constraints, he elaborated. ”Factors like the drought in Australia,
diversion of corn to biofuel by the US and speculative investment in
futures market globally have caused prices to flare” he said.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon has expressed
his concern over the rising food
prices causing a veritable “global
crisis”. Commenting on the worldwide
protests over the food prices’ spiral, Moon thus wanted the world leaders to
mull on a strategy aimed at devising
ways and means to enhance food security and improve food production and
distribution system.
Back home, Minister of State for Power and Congress leader
Jairam Ramesh has blamed the US-led developed world for diverting the precious crop land for biofuel production
for the current food crisis. “George Bush has never been known for his
knowledge of economics and he has just proved once again
how comprehensively wrong he is. To say that the demand for food in India
is causing global food crisis is
completely wrong”, he said.
However, the ruling
political elite in India has done
precious little either to curb the inflation
or to ensure food security for a large section of impoverished population.
While the urban middle class with its growing
purchasing power has been in a position to buy as much food as it needs, rural
poor, landless farmers, daily wage earners and the socio-economically
disadvantaged sections of the society are forced to make do with a decreasing intake
of food. It is a grim ground reality that malnutrition and a sort of semi-starvation
haunt a large segment of the Indian population. The callous and continuous neglect of the agricultural sector by
successive ruling dispensations in New Delhi has contributed in
a big way to the food crisis threatening
the country’s growth.
While both the Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister
P.Chidambaram are never tired of harping
on an “impressive GDP(Gross Domestic Product)growth”, they have no answer as to
how this achievement has helped the poor
and underprivileged to lead a life
without ”penury and suffering” .As
things stand now, the fast spreading food insecurity
that could breed violent street protests could become a major challenge
for India’s ruling elite, whose
concern at present appears to win
the elections at any cost. ---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
|