Millions driven into poverty as global food prices rise

The price of staple foods such as corn, already at an all time high, could more than double in the next 20 years according to a new report released today by international humanitarian organization Oxfam. Up to half of this rise is due to climate change and the world's poorest people, who spend up to 80 percent of their income on food, will be hardest hit.

The new report, 'Growing a Better Future', was released as part of Oxfam's new global GROW campaign launching on June 1st, to address the increasing pressures on the food system, including extremely volatile food prices, which have pushed an estimated 44 million people into poverty in the last year.

The report warns that spiraling prices and endless cycles of regional food crises will create millions more hungry people unless we transform the way we grow and sell food.

"We are fighting both sides of the war on hunger," said Raymond C. Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America. "US policies are making it more difficult for the small farmers, who grow much of the world's food, to have enough to feed their own families. With sensible reforms to increase productivity and resilience of small farmers around the world, we can GROW a better future that holds greater economic prosperity, national security, and a more stable food supply for everyone for generations to come."

Oxfam's GROW campaign is backed by high profile supporters including former President Lula of Brazil and Archbishop Emeritus Tutu.

"We can't wait anymore," said Former President Lula of Brazil. "Political leaders and global companies must act now to ensure that all people can put food on their table. There are no excuses. We have the capacity to feed everyone on the planet now and in the future. If the political will is there no one will be denied their fundamental human right to be free from hunger.

The new report catalogs the symptoms of today's broken food system, including growing hunger, flat-lining yields, a scramble for fertile land and water and rising food prices. It warns we have entered a new age of crisis where depletion of the earth's natural resources and increasingly severe climate change impacts will create millions more hungry people.

Eight million people, a great majority women and girls, face chronic food shortages in East Africa today, while local and regional crises could see demand for food aid double in the next 10 years.

Oxfam estimates that by 2050 demand for food will rise 70 percent yet our capacity to increase food production is declining. The average growth rate in agricultural yields has almost halved since 1990 and is set to decline to a fraction of one percent in the next decade.