What Lies Behind the Food Prices Crisis

What Lies Behind the Food Prices Crisis PDF Author: Jana Georges El Choueiry
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
At the eve of the Financial Crisis that exploded in the summer of 2007, another more vital crisis came into view, the Food Prices Crisis. Riots; protests and conflicts invaded a vast number of countries urging public authorities to react so that to mitigate the effect of a food emergency situation that emerged in developing countries. Whenever a problem with that level of seriousness arises, it is crucial for World's leaders to deeply analyze the issue so that to track down its sources and start curing it.--The main goal of this project is to identify all possible reasons that lie behind the 2007-2008 food prices crisis and to see how drastic its effects were especially on developing countries where originally a problem of food scarcity was faced. After having identified the possible causes and effects of the surge in food commodities prices in Chapter II, this project presents an insight on the Biofuels, an alternative energy source which are increasingly attracting attention and begun steadily expanding in 2003 especially in the US, Brazil and the EU. The reason why Chapter III is dedicated to biofuels is due to the debate there is about these fuels and whether they add upward pressure on food prices for the strong relationship that exists between them and agriculture commodities. --The project then moves to the empirical part of its work in Chapter IV, whereby tests will be conducted to examine the existence of a long run relationship between the dependent variable that is the IMF Food Price Index and all of the five independent variables that are the World Ethanol Production, Open Interests on futures commodities markets, Oil Price Index, China's and India's population and last but not least the value of the USD against 1EUR. After having identified the most significant long run relationship exhibited between some of the independent variables and the dependent variable, this Chapter moves then to testing the existence of a short run relationship and to do.

What Lies Behind the Food Prices Crisis

What Lies Behind the Food Prices Crisis PDF Author: Jana Georges El Choueiry
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Get Book Here

Book Description
At the eve of the Financial Crisis that exploded in the summer of 2007, another more vital crisis came into view, the Food Prices Crisis. Riots; protests and conflicts invaded a vast number of countries urging public authorities to react so that to mitigate the effect of a food emergency situation that emerged in developing countries. Whenever a problem with that level of seriousness arises, it is crucial for World's leaders to deeply analyze the issue so that to track down its sources and start curing it.--The main goal of this project is to identify all possible reasons that lie behind the 2007-2008 food prices crisis and to see how drastic its effects were especially on developing countries where originally a problem of food scarcity was faced. After having identified the possible causes and effects of the surge in food commodities prices in Chapter II, this project presents an insight on the Biofuels, an alternative energy source which are increasingly attracting attention and begun steadily expanding in 2003 especially in the US, Brazil and the EU. The reason why Chapter III is dedicated to biofuels is due to the debate there is about these fuels and whether they add upward pressure on food prices for the strong relationship that exists between them and agriculture commodities. --The project then moves to the empirical part of its work in Chapter IV, whereby tests will be conducted to examine the existence of a long run relationship between the dependent variable that is the IMF Food Price Index and all of the five independent variables that are the World Ethanol Production, Open Interests on futures commodities markets, Oil Price Index, China's and India's population and last but not least the value of the USD against 1EUR. After having identified the most significant long run relationship exhibited between some of the independent variables and the dependent variable, this Chapter moves then to testing the existence of a short run relationship and to do.

The Global Food Crisis

The Global Food Crisis PDF Author: Jennifer Clapp
Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press
ISBN: 1554581982
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
The global food crisis is a stark reminder of the fragility of the global food system. The Global Food Crisis: Governance Challenges and Opportunities captures the debate about how to go forward and examines the implications of the crisis for food security in the world’s poorest countries, both for the global environment and for the global rules and institutions that govern food and agriculture. In this volume, policy-makers and scholars assess the causes and consequences of the most recent food price volatility and examine the associated governance challenges and opportunities, including short-term emergency responses, the ecological dimensions of the crisis, and the longer-term goal of building sustainable global food systems. The recommendations include vastly increasing public investment in small-farm agriculture; reforming global food aid and food research institutions; establishing fairer international agricultural trade rules; promoting sustainable agricultural methods; placing agriculture higher on the post-Kyoto climate change agenda; revamping biofuel policies; and enhancing international agricultural policy-making. Co-published with the Centre for International Governance Innovation

Anatomy of a Crisis: The Causes and Consequences of Surging Food Prices

Anatomy of a Crisis: The Causes and Consequences of Surging Food Prices PDF Author: Derek Headey and Shenggen Fan
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Book Description


The Role of Biofuels as a Possible Major Factor in the Food Crisis 2007-08

The Role of Biofuels as a Possible Major Factor in the Food Crisis 2007-08 PDF Author: Ronny Röwert
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3640852230
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 28

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Economics - International Economic Relations, grade: 1,3, University of Freiburg (Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre und Finanzwissenschaft I), course: The Economics and Politics of Global Agriculture and Trade, language: English, abstract: Between 2005 and 2008 the prices of most major cereals almost doubled or tripled, causing violent food riots all over the world. World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick emphasised in mid-April 2008, at the peak of the price surge, that “a doubling of food prices over the last three years could potentially push 100 million people in low-income countries deeper into poverty” (WB 2008). This price rise took place in a very short period of time and especially the rapid increase between January 2007 and April 2008 (and the immediate decline afterwards) needed an explanation. A lot of rash statements were made meanwhile and immediately after the food crisis, coming from the media, politicians and lobbies. Most of the non-academic commentaries lacked differentiation and evidence in the attempt to explain the reasons and factors which caused the price spike. Western policy makers insisted on explaining that the developing and emerging countries themselves were responsible for increasing prices “due to poor agricultural policies and changing eating habits in developing nations” as argued by German Chancellor Merkel (Reuters 2008). The media and different pro-poor lobby groups used biofuels or speculation as scapegoats for the entire price rise while the academic literature discussed the weight of these factors and added others like global economic growth, higher energy prices, declining stocks, adverse weather events and decline in agricultural investment (Elliot 2008). This paper aims to summarise the scale of influence that different factors had during the price surge, dealing especially with biofuels as a possible major cause of the crisis. Therefore, it is necessary to first examine the characteristics of the price surge. Secondly, the role of every single suspicious factor will be evaluated, and finally, the reasons behind the appearance of the most important factor will be investigated.

Biofuels and the Food Price Crisis

Biofuels and the Food Price Crisis PDF Author: Kimberly Ann Elliott
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 19

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Book Description
While the precise contribution of biofuels to surging food prices is difficult to know, policies promoting production of the current generation of biofuels are not achieving their stated objectives of increased energy independence or reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Reaching the congressionally mandated goal of blending 15 billion gallons of renewable fuels in gasoline by 2015 would consume roughly 40 percent of the corn crop (based on recent production levels) while replacing just 7 percent of current gasoline consumption. Moreover, while it has long been known that the net energy and greenhouse gas emission benefits of corn-based ethanol are relatively small because its production is energy-intensive, recent scientific studies suggest that the current generation of biofuels, including biodiesel made from palm oil, soybeans, and rapeseed, as well as corn-based ethanol, actually add to greenhouse gas emissions relative to petroleum-based fuels when land use changes are taken into account. That is, greenhouse gases are released when forests are cut down or grasslands cleared to plant biofuels, or food is planted on new acreage to replace crops diverted to fuel elsewhere. In sum, the food crisis adds urgency to the need to change these policies but does not change the basic fact that there is little justification for the current set of policies.

Biofuels Impact on Food Prices

Biofuels Impact on Food Prices PDF Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description


The Economics of Biofuel Policies

The Economics of Biofuel Policies PDF Author: Harry de Gorter
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137414855
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
The global food crises of 2008 and 2010 and the increased price volatility revolve around biofuels policies and their interaction with each other, farm policies and between countries. While a certain degree of research has been conducted on biofuel efficacy and logistics, there is currently no book on the market devoted to the economics of biofuel policies. The Economics of Biofuel Policies focuses on the role of biofuel policies in creating turmoil in the world grains and oilseed markets since 2006. This new volume is the first to put together theory and empirical evidence of how biofuel policies created a link between crop (food grains and oilseeds) and biofuel (ethanol and biodiesel) prices. This combined with biofuel policies role in affecting the link between biofuels and energy (gasoline, diesel and crude oil) prices will form the basis to show how alternative US, EU, and Brazilian biofuel policies have immense impacts on the level and volatility of food grain and oilseed prices.

Agriculture and Food in Crisis

Agriculture and Food in Crisis PDF Author: Fred Magdoff
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1583673903
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
The failures of “free-market” capitalism are perhaps nowhere more evident than in the production and distribution of food. Although modern human societies have attained unprecedented levels of wealth, a significant amount of the world’s population continues to suffer from hunger or food insecurity on a daily basis. In Agriculture and Food in Crisis, Fred Magdoff and Brian Tokar have assembled an exceptional collection of scholars from around the world to explore this frightening long-term trend in food production. While approaching the issue from many angles, the contributors to this volume share a focus on investigating how agricultural production is shaped by a system that is oriented around the creation of profit above all else, with food as nothing but an afterthought. As the authors make clear, it is technically possible to feed to world’s people, but it is not possible to do so as long as capitalism exists. Toward that end, they examine what can be, and is being, done to create a human-centered and ecologically sound system of food production, from sustainable agriculture and organic farming on a large scale to movements for radical land reform and national food sovereignty. This book will serve as an indispensible guide to the years ahead, in which world politics will no doubt come to be increasingly understood as food politics.

Reflections on the Global Food Crisis

Reflections on the Global Food Crisis PDF Author: Derek Headey
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN: 0896291782
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 142

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Book Description
The dramatic surge in food prices from 2005 to 2008 seriously threatened the world's poor, who struggle to buy food even under normal circumstances, and led to protests and riots in the developing world. The crisis eventually receded, but such surges could recur unless steps are taken to prevent them. Using up-to-date information, the authors of Reflections on the Global Food Crisis identify the key causes of the food price surge, its consequences for global poverty, and the challenges involved in preventing another crisis. Breaking from many earlier interpretations, the authors conclude that the crisis was not primarily fostered by increased demand for meat products in rising economies such as China and India or by declines in agricultural yields or food stocks, or by futures market speculation. Instead, they attribute the rising food prices to a combination of rising energy prices, growing demand for biofuels, the U.S. dollar depreciation; and various trade shocks related to export restrictions, panic purchases and unfavorable weather. As part of their analysis, the authors also provide the first comprehensive review of both the macroeconomic and microeconomic consequences of the crisis, as well as a detailed comparison of the current crisis with the food price crisis of 1974. To prevent another crisis, the authors conclude that the global food system should be reformed through several key steps: make trade in agricultural commodities more free yet more secure; address long-term threats to agricultural productivity, such as climate change and resource degradation; scale up social protection in potentially food insecure countries; and encourage agricultural production in at least some of the countries now heavily dependent on food imports. Reflections on the Global Food Crisis will be a valuable resource for policymakers, development specialists, and others concerned with the world's poorest people.

The State of Food and Agriculture 2008

The State of Food and Agriculture 2008 PDF Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
ISBN: 9789251059807
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description
The State of Food and Agriculture 2008 explores the implications of the rapid recent growth in production of biofuels based on agricultural commodities -- Back cover.