Food Emergency

By - New York Times, Editorial
Tuesday, May 06, 2008 - Web Link
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May 6, 2008

As soaring food prices threaten to unleash widespread hunger across Africa and other poor countries, President Bush is right to press Congress for more food assistance. He is also right to insist that some of that aid be given in cash to purchase food from local farmers. Unfortunately, the American farm lobby, which supports food aid as long as it gets the profit, is fighting any change to the system.

The situation has become increasingly desperate as rising energy prices, growing world demand and government-subsidized ethanol production — in the United States and Europe — have driven corn prices up by 25 percent over the last year. The prices of wheat and soybeans have doubled. There have already been food riots in several countries, including Haiti, Egypt and Somalia, with fears of more to come.

Beyond the emergency aid, wealthy donors also need to do a lot more to help Africa and other developing countries increase food production. That will require assistance to develop agricultural markets and aid and credit for new technologies and seeds to boost yields. Providing cash to buy food locally would help stimulate farming in the countries that need it most.

Other rich nations are already working to untangle their international food aid from their domestic farm supports. Western Europe has provided all of its food aid in cash since the 1990s. The United States, however, still buys all of its aid from American farmers and then pays to ship the food overseas. This wastes millions on overhead and shipping costs, and farmers in the developing world are discouraged from investing by the competition with subsidized American food.