April 22, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
As food riots erupt worldwide and aid groups search for ways to help the hungry, the author of the Philanthropy Action blog writes that one often-cited cause of the increase in food costs — a demand for biofuels by wealthy countries — is a “red herring.”
“The vast majority of biofuel production comes from corn, sugarcane, and palm oil — only one of which is a food crop. The countries that are experiencing the most unrest are those where the primary staples are wheat and rice, both of which hit record high prices this week while neither is used for biofuel production” writes Tim Ogden, an executive at a communications company that focuses on philanthropy.
Instead, Mr. Ogden says that charities and others need to focus on agriculture policies in the United States and Europe that encourage crop production. Such policies are “depressing prices, destroying livelihoods, and discouraging investment in the agricultural sector elsewhere in the world.”
What do you think? What can be done to help the hungry in countries?
