Critique of policy measures to address recent food price crises

Article Type: News From: Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Volume 25, Issue 1

Since 2007, the world has suffered three rounds of high food prices, caused by a variety of factors from extreme weather events to civil conflict. A recently published study looked at policy responses to price crises in the USA, the EU and 14 middle-and low-income countries throughout Asia, Latin America and Africa south of the Sahara, and indicated that poor policy decisions were also a significant contributing factor.

Former IFPRI Director General Per Pinstrup-Andersen presented the findings of the study, arguing that many policy makers responded to the food price crises in an ad hoc and self-serving way, enacting policies geared towards protecting their own national interests, and ultimately contributing to more extreme food price volatility. This article from IFPRI gives an overview of why policy makers from different countries responded differently to the crises, as well as a summary of lessons for the international community: www.ifpri.org/blog/cornell-s-pinstrup-andersen-don-t-believe-hype-and-data-surrounding-food-price-crises.