Food security to remain top concern over next decade, says FAO-OECD report

Despite a recent fall in commodity prices, food safety is set to remain a top concern over the next ten years, calling for a more resilient approach from world governments, according to a report presented here at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters.

The new "Agricultural Outlook 2010-2019," at its sixth joint edition published by the FAO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), analyzes the future trends and challenges in agricultural markets and food production.

The FAO director general, Jacques Diouf, praised the report. " It shows the common goal that unites the FAO and the OECD in emphasizing the importance that both our organizations place on eradicating hunger, poverty and ensuring that agriculture has the right place on the global agenda," he said at a press conference.

According to the paper, the global outlook is better than at the outbreak of the crisis but more needs to be done in terms of agriculture investments and a global trade guidelines framework capable of ensuring food production and security.

Despite acknowledging that "the agriculture sector has shown resilience to recent price shocks and the economic downturn," the OECD's secretary general, Angel Gurria, stressed that the road ahead was uphill and risky.

"In the long run governments should increase investments in productivity and implement measures to support both farmers and poor consumers in feeding themselves," he stated.

Farm commodity prices have dropped from their record peaks of two years ago but will not return to their average levels of the past decades, said the paper. Wheat and grain prices over the next ten years are expected to increase by 15-40 percent compare to 1997-2006, vegetable oils to be more than 40 percent higher while dairy products to increase by 16-45 percent.

The main risk is that higher food costs are set to further undermine food safety. Since the outbreak of the crisis, the outlook has worsened with an additional 100 million hungry people in the world. For such reasons, both Diouf and Gurria called on nations to implement actions capable of monitoring market volatility in the wake of economic crises and production shortfalls.

"Governments must find adequate tools to ensure food safety and strengthen policy convergence on a global platform. The measures so far undertaken are not enough, more needs to be done to tackle market volatility and boost investments in agriculture," said Diouf.

For the FAO director general, time had come "to move from words to actions in order to regain ground lost and enhance efforts to increase agricultural output."

However, Diouf noted that the growth in food production is likely to meet 70 percent of demand in 2050 and that the highest peak in agricultural output is expected to come from developing countries, set to play a greater role in global markets.

Brazil will increase its agricultural output by more than 40 percent in the next decade, while production growth is also expected to be above 20 percent in China, India, Russia and Ukraine.

Regarding China's role, Diouf told Xinhua that the country was taking enormous steps forward in commodity market expansion. He praised the progress in research, technology, critical infrastructures, education, rural development and innovation linked to land irrigation, water availability and distribution.

"China has implemented good policies aimed at supporting agriculture and farmers and attracting foreign investments," he said.

Gurria added that China today "is shaping global trends in food and agriculture," considering that the increase in food supply was strictly linked to the rise in demand and the positive effects of development and the spreading of well-being, including a shift from a purely carbohydrate-based diet to a more diversified one.

Source: Xinhua