As the London based Charity Oxfam says: " The international community is sleep walking toward humanitarian catasthrope, as rising prices threaten to cause a range of demographic and social crises. The report, Growing a Better Future, says prices for basic staples may rise 120% to 180% of their current level by 2030, partly as a result of climate change but also because of poor distribution and unfettered speculation in commodity markets by big banks and hedge funds. According to Oxfam, the trend can be reversed if governments improve regulations and focused on the plight of small farms. The bad news for the world's worst undernourished to be, is Asia!
Sources: Time Magazine, June 13, 2011 page 11
There are actions that all governments must take today to build resilience at home and begin the transition towards a new agricultural future. Governments should reduce hunger by providing women with equal access to resources, by promoting sustainable agricultural development, job creation and inclusive growth, and by tackling vulnerability via climate adaptation, social protection and disaster risk reduction.
Reaching the new prosperity in time will take all the energy, ingenuity and political will that human kind can muster. Therefore, it is necessary to build governance institutions, invest in small holder agriculture and reduce global greenhouse gas emission, provided that we must first overcome the vested interests that have paralysed the political process until now!
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