The prices of staple foods, which have already reached record levels in 2011, could more than double over the next two decades, a new Oxfam report says. According to the report, “Growing a Better Future”, a combination of factors — including climate change, diminished natural resources worldwide, population growth, and an increased use of crops for biofuels — could trigger a new era of permanent food crisis. The cost of key grains such as maize could rise 180 percent by 2030, with more than half of that increase the result of climate change. “This will prove disastrous for food importing poor countries, and raises the prospect of a wholesale reversal in human development,” the report says. The effects will be felt most severely by the poor, who already spend as much as 80 percent of their income on food, the report notes. Volatile food prices have pushed an estimated 44 million people into poverty in the last year, Oxfam says. The international charity called on world leaders to build a new global governance that better regulates commodities markets to contain price volatility, an increase in global food reserves, and an end to subsidies for biofuel crops.
Staple Food Prices Could More than Double by 2030, Oxfam Says
More From E360
-
Climate
Scientists Are Trying to Coax the Ocean to Absorb More CO2
-
INTERVIEW
Marina Silva on Brazil’s Fight to Turn the Tide on Deforestation
-
Solutions
Solomon Islands Tribes Sell Carbon Credits, Not Their Trees
-
INTERVIEW
With Sea Turtles in Peril, a Call for New Strategies to Save Them
-
RIVERS
Jared Kushner Has Big Plans for Delta of Europe’s Last Wild River
-
Energy
A Nuclear Power Revival Is Sparking a Surge in Uranium Mining
-
OPINION
Despite Official Vote, the Evidence of the Anthropocene Is Clear
-
INTERVIEW
At 11,500 Feet, a ‘Climate Fast’ to Save the Melting Himalaya
-
Oceans
Octopuses Are Highly Intelligent. Should They Be Farmed for Food?
-
Climate
Nations Are Undercounting Emissions, Putting UN Goals at Risk
-
Solutions
As Carbon Air Capture Ramps Up, Major Hurdles Remain
-
ANALYSIS
How China Became the World’s Leader on Renewable Energy