Was the food crisis inevitable?

Columnist Victor Mallet argues in the financial daily that the worldwide food crisis is not due to a lack of supply - for the time being - but rather to interruptions in free trade. "The immediate cause of this crisis is not - perhaps surprisingly - a shortage of food. The problem is the sudden reluctance of traditional exporters to sell their surpluses. As with credit providers in the seized-up credit markets, each producer is hoarding its own supply in case of hard times at home, because it suspects trading partners will do the same. Trust in the efficiency and liquidity of the market has collapsed. Farm protectionism is not new. ... International farm trade has nevertheless managed to satisfactorily for decades redistribute surpluses of staple foods. The current seizures in the markets are therefore a cause for general alarm."

» full article (external link, English)
More from the press review on the subject » Trade, » Agriculture, » Global