Business Mirror
TUESDAY, 18 OCTOBER 2011 21:20 ARMIN A. AMIO / COMPANIES AND TECHNOLOGY EDITOR
A STUDY made by a committee of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said the current move on biofuels as an alternative source of energy is negatively affecting global food insecurity.
The UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) study, the “State of Food Insecurity in the World 2011 [SOFI],” said subsidies and policies by respective governments are creating distortions on demand for biofuels and thus affecting supply of food.
In Monday’s opening of the 37th session of the CFS in Rome, Italy, the governments of FAO members, including the Philippines, were urged to revisit their policies on the use of biofuels as these have affected the supply of food. Biofuels are generated from agricultural feedstock such as sugar cane, soybean, sorghum and corn—the same produce being used for food purposes. FAO experts explained that the high demand for biofuels has driven up prices of feedstock agricultural products, creating abnormally high food prices.
“Food-price volatility may increase over the next decade due to stronger linkages between agricultural and energy markets,” the report said.
The SOFI is an annual flagship undertaking of the UN agencies related to food—FAO, World Food Program (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). It is currently headed by a Filipino, Noel de Luna.
The CFS study also said biofuels production has affected the availability of agricultural land that could otherwise be used for food production.
The Philippines, one of the 34 founding members of the FAO, signed in 2007 the Biofuels Act, which mandates the blending of biofuels with gasoline (up to 10 percent) and diesel (up to 2 percent).
The law also stated that a “10-percent ethanol blend to gasoline will require 500 million liters ethanol, 7,143 million tons sugarcane and 120,000 hectares planted to sugarcane. If this ethanol is not domestically produced, necessarily to fulfill the requirements under the bill, it could result [in] importation.”
Among other factors, the report said this has unnecessarily caused volatility in food prices, which is seen by SOFI 2011 to continue and increase, “making poor farmers, consumers and countries more vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity.”
It has been observed that prices of biodiesel have more than doubled since 2007, and many experts blame biofuels production for driving up food prices worldwide. Prominent scientists have even questioned whether growing crops for biofuels produces more greenhouse gases than it prevents.
Although the incidence of hunger in Asia has been reduced—to less than 1 percent compared with 8-percent in Africa—the SOFI study said this should remain a source of grave concern to the international community.
“Demand from consumers in rapidly growing economies will increase, the population continues to grow and further growth in biofuels will place additional demands on the food system,” the report said.
This year’s SOFI focused on high and volatile food prices, identified as major contributing factors in food insecurity at a global level.
The report also highlighted the imposition of safety nets by countries. When previously safety nets were considered a form of protectionism, the SOFI 2011 pointed out that these are actually “crucial for alleviating food insecurity in the short term, as well as providing a foundation for long-term development.”
It added that “in order to be effective at reducing the negative consequences of price volatility, targeted safety net mechanisms must be designed in advance.”
The heads of the three UN agencies, Jacques Diouf of FAO, Kanayo F. Nwanze of IFAD, and Josette Sheeran of WFP, who also led Monday’s celebration of World Food Day, urged the international community to action to banish food insecurity.
“Governments must ensure that a transparent and predictable regulatory environment is in place, one that promotes private investment and increases farm productivity. We must reduce food waste in developed countries through education and policies, and reduce food losses in developing countries by boosting investment in the entire value chain, especially post-harvest processing. More sustainable management of our natural resources, forests and fisheries are critical for the food security of many of the poorest members of society,” they said in a joint statement.
The Rome-based FAO estimates that the number of hungry people in 2010 is 925 million, much higher than the 2006-2008 assessment of 850 million. The UN agency said the methodology for calculating the prevalence of hunger is currently under revision so no estimates have been produced for this year.
The UN report comes just as a local research group identified two of the biggest obstacles to attaining food self-sufficiency in the Philippines: conversion of lands devoted to food production for other purposes and deals entered into by the government for the use of agricultural land for nonagricultural ventures.
Ibon, a nongovernmental research group, said the government should address these obstacles to attain food self-sufficiency and issued a warning that failure to do so will aggravate the situation.
It cited a South Korean bioethanol plant that will be constructed in Pampanga that will be using about 30,000 hectares of farmlands for sugarcane production. Similarly, in San Mariano, Isabela, a Japanese firm plans to use 11,000 hectares of land for bioethanol production.
(With Jonathan Mayuga)
In Photo: Sellers display fi sh in a public market in Parañaque City on Tuesday. Prices of fi sh are being closely watched by the Department of Trade and Industry as many areas in Luzon are still recovering from the effects of Typhoons Pedring, Quiel and Ramon. A price freeze on basic commodities, including fish, is still in effect in typhoon-affected areas. (Nonie Reyes)
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