The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2011

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Rome, 2011

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Table of Contents

Key messages	[822Kb]

Foreword	[54Kb]

Undernourishment around the world: impact of the 2006–08 price shock The crises hit the poor and the weak Revising FAO’s methodology for measuring hunger	[261Kb]

Recent trends in world food commodity prices: costs and benefits Past and future trends in world food prices Costs and benefits of high and low food prices Costs and benefits of volatile and unpredictable prices	[390Kb]

Lessons from the world food crisis of 2006–08	[625Kb]

Policy options to address price volatility and high prices Preventing domestic price volatility in the short term: trade policies and buffer stocks Coping with likely future price volatility: risk management for smallholder farmers and governments Coping with price volatility after the fact: targeted safety nets and emergency food reserves Preventing price volatility in the long term: increasing productivity, the sustainability and resilience of agriculture	[716Kb]

Technical annex Annex table Prevalence of undernourishment and progress towards the World Food Summit (WFS) and the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets in in developing countries	[61Kb]

Notes	[924Kb]

ABSTRACT

The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2011 highlights the differential impacts that the world food crisis of 2006-08 had on different countries, with the poorest being most affected. While some large countries were able to deal with the worst of the crisis, people in many small import-dependent countries experienced large price increases that, even when only temporary, can have permanent effects on their future earnings capacity and ability to escape poverty.

This year’s report focuses on the costs of food price volatility, as well as the dangers and opportunities presented by high food prices. Climate change and an increased frequency of weather shocks, increased linkages between energy and agricultural markets due to growing demand for biofuels, and increased financialization of food and agricultural commodities all suggest that price volatility is here to stay. The report describes the effects of price volatility on food security and presents policy options to reduce volatility in a cost-effective manner and to manage it when it cannot be avoided. It will be important to provide improved market information, create gender-sensitive safety nets that are designed in advance and can be implemented quickly in times of crisis, and invest in agriculture for the long-term to make it more productive and resilient to shocks.

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