The cost of feeding millions of starving people increased markedly in 2010 as rising grain (korn) prices pushed up the cost of staple foods (grundnæringsmidler), data from the World Food Program (WFP) showed Tuesday.
Figures seen ahead of the release of the WFP’s annual report show that while the UN’s food-relief agency bought 22 percent more food last year than in 2009, the amount it spent rose 30 percent to 1,25 billion US dollar.
Wheat purchases, which account for 39 percent of supplies, cost 59 percent more last year as the UN organization struggled to feed people displaced by devastating floods in Pakistan. The average cost of a metric ton of wheat rose to 246 dollar in 2010 compared with 218 the year before.
Caroline Hurford, a spokeswoman for the WFP, which feeds 90 million people every year, said the agency has been working to increase its domestic purchases of grain to counter rising international prices.
Global wheat harvests may trail demand for a second year, spurring hoarding and further price gains, said the UN further.
– Whenever you get the market as tight as we are now, hoarding (opkøb/lagring) becomes widespread, Abdolreza Abbassian, a senior economist at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said.
– We need at least a 3 percent to 4 percent increase in total wheat production, Abbassian added.
Meanwhile, a South Korean newspaper reported Tuesday, that North Korea is going around the world seeking food aid, including from the US, but apparently without much result.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
