Aiming for food and nutrition security in a changed global context: Strategy to end hunger

The most relevant price for the poor is the price of grain—especially wheat, maize, and rice. Maize prices increased by 105 per cent between March 2010 and March 2011 on international markets; wheat by 102 per cent; rice increased less in the 2011 crisis, but more than wheat and maize in 2008. The price increase implies that a kilo of wheat in many developing countries typically costs about $0.30 instead of $0.15—a critical difference for a person who lives on $1 a day, as do more than 1 billion people. This kind of price increase requires poor people to cut back on other food and non-food expenditures to maintain food energy consumption. Consequently, quality of diet and of livelihood suffers.

Related Subject(s): Economic and Social Development