DUBAI: The UN’s top humanitarian official warned that continuing rising food prices could cause unrest and political instability worldwide.
John Holmes, the undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, made his remarks at a conference in Dubai addressing challenges to humanitarian work.
“The security implications (of the food crisis) should also not be underestimated as food riots are already being reported across the globe, he said.
His comments came after two days of rioting in Egypt over economic conditions where the prices for many staples have doubled in the past year.
“Current food price trends are likely to increase sharply both the incidence and depth of food insecurity, he said, noting a 40 percent average rise worldwide since mid-2007.
Holmes said that the biggest challenge to humanitarian work is the effects of climate change and the resulting “extreme weather which has doubled the number of recorded disasters from an average of 200 a year to 400 year in the past two decades.
Adding food scarcity and expensive fuel to the mix have made for a very volatile situation, he explained.
“Compounding the challenges of climate change in what some have labeled the perfect storm are the recent dramatic trends in soaring food and fuel prices, he said.
One of the factors pushing food prices higher and sparking protests all over the world is more expensive diesel fuel, which is used to transport most of the world s food.
Just on Monday there were riots over food scarcity in Haiti, clashes with police over high prices in northern Egypt and in Jordan UN employees staged a day long strike for pay raises due to a 50 percent rise in prices there.
John M. Powell, the deputy Executive Director of The United Nation s World Food Program, emphasized the need for developed world to help governments in the developing countries, experiencing unrest over high food prices, develop a “social safety net programs.
“Riots today mean you need a solution tomorrow, Powell said. But an overnight solution from governments with no “policy space and under pressure from more organized discontent in urban centers “is not likely to be the best decision.
Powell said the planet is getting hungrier with 4 million people added to the list of those in most dire need for food to survive.
The rise of fuel and food prices is unlikely to stop soon and it affects everyone, Powell said. In the past natural disasters, wars and ethnic conflict made the rural areas most vulnerable to poverty and hunger.
Now the most vulnerable live in the cities, Powell said.
“They see food on the shelves but they cannot afford to buy it, said Powell and called the urban poverty the “new face of hunger.
