	Generational Dynamics
	Forecasting America's Destiny ... and the World's

\| HOME \| WEB LOG \| COUNTRY WIKI \| COMMENT \| FORUM \| DOWNLOADS \| ABOUT \|

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 9-May-2011
9-May-11 News -- World food price index holds steady at historic highs

Web Log - May, 2011

9-May-11 News -- World food price index holds steady at historic highs

Unrest over food prices is growing

World food price index holds steady at historic highs

The food price index of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Association (FAO) held steady during April, after increasing in eight of the previous nine months. There was little change in the index because although international grain prices increased sharply in April, the rise was more than offset by declines in dairy, sugar, and rice, while oils and meat prices were mostly unchanged, according to the FAO.

FAO Food Price Index, April 2011

FAO Food Price Index, April 2011

The outlook for cereal grain prices in 2011 is good, according to an analyst quoted by AFP, but "Among all the cereals, maize is the most worrisome. This year we would need above-average, if not record, yields in the United States for the maize situation to improve, but maize plantings so far have been delayed considerably due to cool and wet conditions on the ground."

The price index remains well the 2008 levels that caused riots across the developing world. The level of unrest hasn't been as high this time, because governments have reduced the severity of the problem by providing food subsidies, and by closer cooperation with neighboring countries. Still, the uprisings that have spread across the Arab world were originally triggered by high food prices.

Black Africa (also called sub-Saharan Africa) has been particularly hard hit by the rise in food prices, according to the Swaziland Observer. High poverty rates will cause additional uprisings, according to the article, and in Uganda there have already been organized protests that have turned violent.

Food prices have been increasing almost steadily since 2002, in good times and bad, in good weather or bad. From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, we're continuing to see what I call the "Malthus Effect," a continuing increase in the price of food as the population grows faster than the supply of food, especially during a generational Crisis era.

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 9-May-11 News -- World food price index holds steady at historic highs thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (9-May-2011) Permanent Link
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Donate to Generational Dynamics via PayPal

Web Log Pages

Current Web Log

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 9-May-2011 9-May-11 News -- World food price index holds steady at historic highs

World food price index holds steady at historic highs

Web Log Pages

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 9-May-2011
9-May-11 News -- World food price index holds steady at historic highs