'Haiti food riots overthrow President". 'Philippines calls for action on soaring food prices". 'PNG facing food security crisis". The headlines around the world are alerting us to a burgeoning crisis. From Kenya to the Philippines, news reports are showing us that tens of million of people teeter on the precipice of starvation - and the fall out could be catastrophic. 

To have 'food security' people must have enough food to stay alive and healthy. Depending on weight, height and their level of activity, the daily requirement of calories is around 2100 - the equivelant of about three cups of rice.  If people do not get this minimum requirement of food, malnourishment is a likely outcome and when people get hungry they can get desperate.

Food security is dependent upon people having the resources or skills to grow enough food to eat, coupled with the right weather conditions for food to grow; or enough money to buy much needed food supplies.

The causes of escalating food prices and food shortages, which are adversely affecting food security in our world today, are numerous and complex but they include: climate change, the rising cost of fuel, the growth in production of biofuels (such as corn), the dependency in the rich world of meat in our diets, and loss of agricultural land.

Climate change, exacerbated by industrial pollution and deforestation, is producing erratic weather patterns, including flooding and increased duration and frequency of droughts, severely impacting the production of crops grown for food.

Many of the world's poorest communities are not equipped to cope with these climatic changes happening around them. As food crises hit, the ability of subsistence and small scale farmers to plan for long-term sustainable food production is greatly reduced. In the world's poorest nations, if crops fail many rural subsistence farmers have no back-up crops or resources, so they go hungry or are forced to migrate, becoming climate refugees.

An increasing number of people are faced with the threat of becoming 'climate refugees'. Often the poorest are living on the most marginal land. As a result, rising sea levels, floods, land slides and/or droughts are threatening tens of millions throughout the world, forcing many people to leave their land. When they do so, their incomes are likely to be greatly reduced and the danger of so many people being plunged further into poverty is a growing reality.

Many low income countries are currently unable to produce enough food to feed their own populations. Hence they rely on the importation of food staples such as rice, wheat, corn and soya. Hence when global food shortages are high and demand increases, prices also increase meaning that poor people have to spend more of their income on ensuring their families have enough food to eat.

Global cereal prices have skyrocketed over the previous three years but particularly in the last 12 months. Wheat has increased by over 130%, soya by almost 80%, rice by over 70% and corn has risen around 30%. The impact of this can be felt in the supermarkets and hip pockets of Australia but those that earn only a few dollars or less a day, feel the impact of rising food prices much harder.

'Food price inflation hits the poor hardest, as the share of food in their total expenditures is much higher than that of wealthier populations," said Henri Josserand of FAO's Global Information and Early Warning system. 'Food represents about 10-20 percent of consumer spending in industrialized nations, but as much as 60-80 percent in developing countries, many of which are net-food-importers."

In poverty stricken nations as the price of food increases, locals are forced to use what little savings they have to pay for food plunging them further and further into poverty.
Around the world as the price of fuel rises, so to does the cost of food.
This is primarily because of the increase in the use of fossil fuel based synthetic fertilizers and fossil fuel driven machines in the production and distribution of food. Throughout the world we have seen a move away from traditional agriculture to industrial factory farming and distribution.

With the extensive use of fossil fuels used in the production, distribution and manufacturing of foods, such as bread, any rise in fuel costs is felt by the consumer.

With an increased demand for commodities from the biofuel and beef industries further pressure is applied to prices.

In response to our need to replace our dwindling fossil fuel supplies, at the same time continuing to meet our economic demand for energy supplies, many western government's, consumers and corporations have been calling for the replacement of fossil fuel consumption with biofuels. Biofuels such as ethanol (an alcohol distilled from the fermentation of grain or sugar) or fuels based on soy, corn or palm oil are seen as 'renewable' sources of energy.

Unfortunately, the quest to produce enough biofuel directly undermines the production of food. Vast tracts of land are being cleared for the planting of biofuel crops and primary agricultural lands once used for the production of food are now devoted to biofuel crop production. Without access to land, people who once would have survived as subsistence farmers are forced to move to already overcrowded cities to try and earn an income and thus feed themselves and their families.

In Malaysia, Borneo and Indonesia, huge increases in the price of palm oil is seeing large tracts of forest cleared for palm oil plantations. Palm oil is used as a shortening agent in industrialized foods and as a fat base for cosmetics, cleaning products and soaps as well as a biofuel - mostly for the use of rich countries.

As the demand for biofuels increases the cost of raw materials such as soy, grain, and sugar used in its production are also forced up. Increased demand by the biofuel industry is placing further upward pressure on commodity prices.

It is estimated that there are around 2 billion domesticated cows on the planet, and as an emerging middle class in countries such as China and India share the desire for more meat in their diet, the demand for beef, lamb and other meats is set to continue increasing.

The result of this demand is that much of the soy (80%) and maize produced in the world today goes into animal feed. It is estimated that it takes 28 kilocalories of cereal and petroleum to produce 1 kilocalorie of animal derived protein. In South America for example we have seen large areas of the Amazon rainforest cleared to make way for crops of soy and maize, much of which will be sold to consumers in the form of meat as the soy and maize is fed to the animals. As the demand for meat increases, the demand for these crops as animal feed, also forces up prices.

The deforestation which occurs to grow the animal feed also contributes to climate change.

These factors, which when combined, spell catastrophe for millions of the world's most vulnerable people.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reports that currently 37 countries face food crises; with starvation a real possibility for millions of the world's poorest. The World Bank adds that an estimated 33 countries are in danger of political destabilization and internal conflict as a result of the crises, with food riots already occurring in a number of countries including Indonesia, Haiti, Niger, Senegal, Cameroon, Mexico and Yemen.

During the Ethiopian famine of 1984, images of starving children were beamed around the world. We were shocked and appalled that such famine had gone unheeded. Many of us felt incredible compassion for the people of Ethiopia, and dug deep in our pockets to help. Bob Geldof launched 'Live Aid" and the single "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

was produced raising more than $100m for the people of Ethiopia. Aid agencies responded with emergency food aid.

'We must not allow this to happen again" was a common refrain at the time of the famine, and yet in 2008 we are facing a food crisis which is likely to eclipse the Ethiopian famine. In fact the UN is now warning of the shortage of food as a 'silent tsunami' threatening to become the biggest crisis of the 21st century - if we don't act quickly to avert it.

With the world population expected to grow from 6.2 billion today to 9.5 billion by 2050, the demand for food can only increase. The World Bank predicts that global demand for food will double by 2030.

Despite these alarming figures, there are solutions. One of the solutions is to help more people gain access to food. The facts show that there is more than enough food for everyone on the planet - the problem is that we are not distributing it, effectively or efficiently, and we haven't ensured that communities themselves are food sufficient.

Around the world Caritas Australia is working with communities to create access to diversified farming options and helping them to secure access to valuable water supplies. This reduces a communities' dependence on rainfall and enables them to grow enough food to feed themselves even in times of drought.

Organic and sustainable farming techniques including: irrigation, planting fast-maturing and drought-resistant crops, implementing a program of reforestation and replacing chemical fertilizers with animal manure or mulch is helping to sustain the environment, improve soil quality and increase crop yields, ensuring that families have enough to eat.

HIV/AIDS projects are also helping to ensure that those living with this disease have access to fresh foods, crucial for effective digestion of anti-retroviral drugs.

Caritas Australia is also giving communities access to alternative income generation options to enable them to cope with increases in food prices or food shortages and build their long term financial security.

We can all play a part in preventing a global food crisis. An important local contribution can be seen in the part played by responsible households around Australia.  Reducing energy consumption and overall green house gas emissions, cutting back on consumerism and demanding that governments and corporations around the world take immediate action to address climate change, deforestation and the demand for biofuels are important ways to do our bit in creating a more sustainable world. Even just cutting back to eating meat once or twice a week will have a huge impact on the global food crisis in the long term.

Anna Orchard
Communications Officer, Caritas Australia