Before the global economic meltdown, soaring food prices and rising hunger dominated development debates. The economic crisis rages on, but so does the food crisis. Although food prices fell in the final months of 2008, they remain well above the long-term trend and will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future:
What does this mean in practice? A near 1 billion people - 1 in 6 of the world's population - goes hungry.
An Oxfam paper released today - "A Billion Hungry People" - considers some of the ways in which governments and aid agencies can address this growing problem. Read the paper for more detailed recommendations, but in a nutshell: improving hunger early warning systems; more and better development assistance; food reserves; an enabling environment for private businesses and citizens (e.g. access to credit, technical assistance); social protection programs; and counterproductive rich country programs such as biofuel subsidies.