Forum to discuss world food crisis

Mr. Werner vom Busch (left), Director of Media Programme Asia of Konrad Adenauer Foundation, gives his welcoming remark at the forum. Next, Mr. Pana JANVIROY, President of the Nation newspaper of Thailand, and Dr. Sebastian PAUST, Executive Director of Asian Development Bank.

By Chhay Sophal
While the world is facing a food crisis, many countries are making attempts to address these issues. Agricultural experts and a group of senior journalists from Asia and Europe have tried to uncover effective solutions for global consumers. The discussion was held in Bangkok, Thailand, in June and reported in the Asian-European Editors’ forum. The article is titled “The World Food Crisis: Effects on Asia and Solutions”....

Dr. Sebastian PAUST, Executive Director of Asian Development Bank, said both short-term and long-term factors can cause the food prices to increase in the world. The six short-term factors, he said, are the decline of US dollars, decline of food stocks, natural disasters, conflict and political unrest in several countries that disrupted local productions, disputable short-term policy responses in key importing and exporting countries, and heavy influence of market speculation. The long-term factors are stagnation of food grain yields and slow pace of development of high-yielding, distortion of incentive for agricultural production, neglecting of rural areas and insufficiency of agricultural sector in Asian nations, demographic pressure with growing of population while agricultural land is losing, energy price is rising causing the prices of agricultural tools such as fertilizers and fuels are high, Asian people eat more and better food (more consumption), diversion of cereal use from food to alternative fuel (biofuel), and the global trade issue, he added.

Speaking to the forum, Duncan Macintosh, spokesperson of the Manila-based International Rice Research Institute, the climate change followed by drought, flooding, and salinity is the worst problem of agriculture for present and the future. He, however, suggested that Asia can increase its agricultural products and food security until it improves technology by taking into account the climate change and taking full advantage of revolutions in biology, genetics, information technology and communications.

Since early this year, the world have been in food crisis and the international food aid agencies warned to cut off or end food supply to food seekers. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) feeding nearly 89 million people, including 58.8 million children, worldwide also met difficulties and it announced to cut some food supply this year. In Cambodia, the WFP has already cut food supplies to some 450,000 Cambodian primary-school students previously received breakfast. WFP, however, confirmed in April that monthly food rations to People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) and Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) households, in addition to the food support to TB patients, pregnant and lactating women and their infants under the Mother Child Health programme will continue without interruption throughout 2008. By the end of 2008, WFP expects to distribute over 5,200 metric tons of food to 70,000 PLHIV and OVC beneficiaries alone and with the recent Cambodian government’s contribution of 3,000 metric tons of rice to WFP, together with other donations will be used to target the most in need. On April 23, German government announced to provide food support with $2.25 million dollars by an additional $15 million to Cambodia through WFP. According to a press release from the German embassy in Phnom Penh on 18 June, the Food Aid is not seen by the German government as a structural support to developing partners but its contributions to WFP are made available to safeguard the needs for survival of people in need.

Dr. Kwanchai A. GOMEZ, Executive Director of the Thai Rice Foundation, said the rice sources in Asia on a path of eradication and it is not Asia’s problem anymore, but the whole world. She urged the governments to push to produce more agricultural products to meet the consumers’ needs.

Vichai SRIPRASERT, Honorable President of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, and President of Riceland International Ltd in Bangkok, said high price means low sale and farmers always ask for high price but they are wrong. “If the price is too high, then only a small amount of rice is sold. If I were a farmer, I would not ask for high price of rice but I would ask for more water and more irrigation,” he said. Vichai also asserted that the current financial, fuel and commodity crisis influences the rising rice prices. .

Some 50 participants from Cambodia, Britain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Czech, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, and Vietnam, attended the forum organised by German’s Konrad Adenauer Foundation on 12-15 June.