Here's a simple idea to make a dent in hunger in the Philippines that has experienced rice shortages and high prices recently: If the world Bank can set up financing to buy one of those shiny new rice harvesting machines to send to the Philippines and people around the world can contribute a little bit to make the payments for the harvester, then the people in the Philippines can increase their production of rice and lift themselves out of hunger and poverty. If the first machine works well, then more could be bought later. I think the World Bank would like to see everyone's email about that idea.
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Fourth, global research budgets for food production, especially for the tropical and dry-land regions, should be bolstered. There are great hopes for developing drought-resistant crop varieties.
Fifth, the food-exporting countries should avoid or reverse the ban on food exports, which gravely exacerbates the crises in food-importing countries.
Sixth, UNICEF and the World Food Program should be supported so that they can bolster basic nutrition for the extreme poor, refugees, displaced persons, the elderly and the ill, through emergency food aid, school feeding programs and nutritional supplementation.
Joachim Von Braun
Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C.
A family in Bangladesh that has $5 a day typically spends $3 on food. The recent increase in basic food stuffs—some of which have risen 50 percent—takes $1.50 of their purchasing power away. The consequence is under-nutrition.
Eight hundred million people in the world were in food deficit before the crisis. Now it is many more. Their reaction is frustration. People in more than 30 countries have protested in the streets.
A triple-action program is needed now. In the short run, developing-country governments should expand food or income transfers and early-childhood nutrition programs for the poorest people—both urban and rural. Countries that do not have such programs in place need to start work-programs for the poor. Donors should expand food-related development aid.
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