FAO says near-term relief unlikely

Abu Dhabi: The global food situation is serious and prices of essential food items are unlikely to come down dramatically in the near term, an official of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Sunday on the sidelines of a conference here.

Food and Nutrition Officer at the FAO's regional office in Cairo, Fatima Hachem, told Gulf News that as the prices of essential commodities rise, people in the low-income group, worldwide, are finding it increasingly difficult to afford to buy these items for themselves and their families.

"There have recently been food riots in many places around the world, mainly in some of the African countries and Haiti," Hachem said.

"We are expecting the food crisis to ease off slightly in the coming few months as there are forecasts of more wheat and rice production worldwide, but food prices aren't seen going back to the price levels before the crisis began," said Hachem.

Hachem said factors that have contributed to the food crisis include the drought in Australia - one of the world's biggest wheat producers - major diversion of corn output for producing ethanol instead of it being used as food, increase in global crude oil prices that have led to higher agricultural production and transportation costs, and an increase in the middle-class population of China and India that's increased the demand for food.

Other factors include vast tracts of agricultural lands being used to feed animals so that more meat can be produced, resulting in the food output shrinkage. Hachem also said that due to the world's ever-increasing population, there's been degradation of water and land resources.

"Land that was being used for agriculture purposes is also fast being cleared to build houses," said Hachem.

"The FAO is assisting countries in increasing their production where land and natural resources permit. We are assisting countries by providing seeds and fertilisers to increase production," Hachem added.