Poor Suffer as Food Prices Likely to Stay High
December 12, 2011 in Market America
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, from voaspecialenglish.com | http There are growing concerns about food insecurity in the developing world. Rising food prices, weather emergencies and political problems are deepening the struggles of families in many countries. Three United Nations agencies published a report before World Food Day in October. This year’s “State of Food Insecurity in the World” report says high prices are likely to continue. Gregory Barrow with the World Food Program in Rome says, “If you look at the places where World Food Program works, particularly in developing countries, you see populations of people who might be spending sixty, seventy, eighty percent of their salaries on purchasing food for their families.” The report says even short-term price increases can have a long-term effect. Reducing nutritious food early in a child’s life can affect mental and physical development and limit future earnings. The United Nations has programs aimed at reducing the number of hungry people in the world by fifty percent by twenty-fifteen. But most observers say this target is unlikely to be reached. East Africa is suffering its worst drought in years. In Kenya, at least three and a half million people are going hungry, mostly in the north. Yet food is going to waste in central Kenya. Now, farmers there want the government to buy their food and get it to those in need.Farmers say bad roads and a lack of transportation make it difficult for them …
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