Globalization and the new world food crisis Essay

Since the dawn of civilization, man has always ventured and made developments for his betterment. Man’s basic need like any other animal on the planet has been his food. Initially man devised new hunting skills and innovate new weapons to hunt and feed. As time passed by he understood the basics of agriculture and ended his nomadic life. This was a turning point in mankind and the need for growing food to survive was well understood. With the passing of more time, agricultural science was used to enhance agricultural outputs with most of the countries at least going through one form of agricultural revolution. The need for food is still an essential need in this world full of technology and finances. Globalization brought the world closer and resources of one country started being used for resources or capital from other country. The concept of open trade became evitable and food was traded in plenty. It didn’t matter, where one was and could buy vegetables and fruits from other countries. Staying in the United States of America once could have Chinese mandarins. This was the extent in which globalization had upsurge trade amongst countries. Today the scenario has changed drastically, even though there is trade available, there is a major scarcity of food available in the world to be traded. The surplus quota of food which always used to be exported by countries is now being used for keeping out in reserves and in storage. Today the prices of exports have reached as high as 80% of the original cost as the other countries have started banning exports. Food today has become more expensive and scarcer than oil and other extinguishing resources. Today the world has entered into a new world ‘food crises’. Prices of bread in grocery store have changed and risen more in a week that it has over the years. It is a very grave situation and the world is in serious mess for it. Food prices have really soared up making it very difficult for buyers in terms of finances, but they still have to buy it as it is food and one cannot live without food. It has been estimated that wheat prices are up by 120%, rice prices are up by 75% and it has been efficiently calculated by experts that on an average a poor family today is spending 80% of its income on food. Food which is a basic necessity for a man to survive is a matter for daily struggle for about billion people. Because of this callous increase in food pricing, there has been huge increasing in malnutrition and it has been estimated that more than 3. 5 million children are dying per year because of food shortage. Further more the food crisis, which had been lingering around for some time, but somehow world leaders failed to acknowledge it and due to which about 100 million people have crossed below the poverty line in the last 2 years. The situation is considered to be very grave as this problem is here to stay at least till 2015. This problem is there for in the future as situations have been created where food will become more expensive than gold. The situation has now been officially declared out of hand situation and rapid measures are expected to control the situation at least for the near future. Globalization has been of the main issues that has caused this food crisis in the world. Everything being connected if has its advantages then it also has a lot of disadvantages. Today because of globalization and international trade every country is dependent on some country for its commodities and export. One thing that was clear in the world was not everything could be made in one country, so it has to be bought from another country. Today if natural disaster strikes at one country and if that country is one of the biggest exporters of a particular food item, then it is seen that prices of that food item goes up in the international market. Today the sorrow of one country is proportional to international markets. For instance an example of how globalization affects the food crisis is seen below: ‘The price of maize has never been higher, and the future has seldom seemed rosier. Carleton is booming, with $200-million put up for a new bio fuel factory and, after years in the doldrums, there is full-time, well-paid work for 50 people. The same fields that surround houses may be bringing new money to rural America, but they are also helping to push up the price of bread in Manchester, tortillas in Mexico City and beer in Madrid as Challenged by President George Bush to produce 133-billion liters of non-fossil transport fuels by 2017 to reduce United States dependency on imported oil, thousands are patriotically turning the US corn belt from the bread basket of the world into an enormous fuel tank. Only a year ago, their maize mostly went to cattle feed or was exported as food aid. Come harvest time, almost all will end up at the new plant at Carleton, where it will be fermented to make ethanol’ (Yale Global). Globalization has taken its toll on fossil fuels. Today it’s known that fossil fuels will extinguish in the coming years and the world might come to a halt. For this scientist devised ways of making bio fuels with the help of corn and maize. As the current United States of America’s president George Bush has vowed to stop imports of oil and fossil fuel from other nations by 2017, he has started a massive operation for making the country self sufficient on bio fuel. This has made the farmers giving away corn and wheat for the production of the fuel. The United States of America had made special subsidy for the American farmers to compete with globalize rates and due to which actual wheat producing nations like Mexico had to lose out on its farming out wheat and corn as because of the amount of international trade norms imposed due to United States of America. Because of that farmers in Latin America had major crisis for their wheat and became dependent of the American policy. Today when America is giving away its corn and wheat production for making away bio fuel, bread has become a major issue for the world and the following will explain problems created by it for poor countries: ‘Ever since the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund broke down trade barriers in the global south-thus opening the gates for the dumping of subsidized grain from the U. S. and Europe-farmers in poor countries have steadily been driven out of business. Under the banner of â€Å"comparative advantage,† many poor countries that had previously been self sufficient in food were turned as a conscious matter of US foreign policy into food importing countries. But with the U. S. hoarding its corn and selling the rest of its food dear, these nations are left holding the poor end of an expensive stick’ (Eric Holt-Gimenez). After America, Australia is one biggest wheat production nation on the world and is also a large responsibility for the world’s food production. Globalization has taken its toll on the environment. Today industries and technology have shifted to a new level often overlooking environmental issues. This high amount of globalization has accelerated the phenomenon of global warming which itself is responsible for many issues. Because of global warming, there suns rays are directly affecting the planet through the depleting ozone. This rise in temperature brings in lots of disasters on its way, like meting of polar caps, abrupt changes of climate and worst of all no rain but more heat. Because of the globalization Australia has been suffering more lately and it is having multiple year droughts. These droughts caused by global warming are taking its toll on the wheat productions making the wheat and corn an expensive item for the world. The following will explain the condition of Australia’s wheat woes. ‘After America, Australia is normally the second largest exporter of grain, and in a good year it would hope to harvest about 25 million tones. But the country remains in the grip of the worst drought in a century, which is why the 2006 crop yielded only 9. 8m tones. Last year saw one of the best starts to a growing season for years, but dry weather in recent weeks has forced the Australian government to slash its crop forecasts by 30%’ (BBC). Globalization has taken its toll on two massive exporters of wheat and since these two countries are affected it becomes very hard for the world as the remaining wheat that is available becomes very expensive making it impossible for poor people to think of having bread. Hard as it may seem to believe but it is quiet true now that globalization has been the food stealer of the world. Today many people are being pushed below poverty lines as they cannot afford to buy food and the deaths related with starvation or malnutrition has increased to new heights. Everything is proportional to every activity in the world and since the prices of wheat have soared up, people are getting poorer and the buying capacity of people is getting directly affected because of it. The following piece will shed light on the relationship of poverty and globalization: ‘The relationship between globalization and poverty is complex, Harrison acknowledges, yet she says that a number of persuasive conclusions may be drawn from the studies in Globalization and Poverty. One conclusion is that the relationship depends not just on trade or financial globalization but on the interaction of globalization with the rest of the economic environment: investments in human capital and infrastructure, promotion of credit and technical assistance to farmers, worthy institutions and governance, and macroeconomic stability, including flexible exchange rates and Globalization and Poverty yields several implications. First, impediments to exports from developing countries worsen poverty in those countries. Second, careful targeting is necessary to address the poor in different countries who are likely to be hurt by globalization’ (Matt Nesvisky)