Food Security Is Less of a Concern, UN Agency Says

Food security is of less concern in 2010 than in recent years, even as prices rise, because grain stocks are plentiful and a weakened global economy will stunt demand, according to the United Nations’ food agency.

World wheat inventories at the end of May were the highest since 2002, and the amount of rice in storage at the close of July was the largest in seven years, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. Corn prices have jumped 12 percent in the past three sessions after a USDA report showed output would be less than expected.

Ample wheat and rice inventories will outweigh rising prices because food insecurity is usually based on strong demand, said Abdolreza Abbassian, a senior economist at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. The worst global recession since World War II means demand for grain to feed people and livestock for human consumption will be lower than in 2008, when shortages sparked riots from Egypt to Haiti, he said.

“Economic growth is not as positive as in 2007 or 2008, which is an engine behind demand,” Abbassian said by telephone from Rome. “Stockpiles are not as low as they were in 2007, and petrol energy prices are half as high. Whether these spikes in prices would lead us to a food crisis situation, it is something we do not consider as a possibility.”

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