It has been four years since a lethal combination of bad harvests, misguided trade policies and poor governance combined to create a global food crisis that put millions of lives and livelihoods at risk.
This summer’s drought in the American Midwest is threatening renewed spikes in worldwide commodity prices. It may prove an early test for the commitments made after the 2007-08 crisis – notably at a G8 summit in L’Aquila in Italy in 2009 – to improve global food security.
Unfortunately, progress has been uneven and in some places policies have actually worsened. On the positive side, the amount of aid going into agriculture has increased, with the caveat that any numerical target is subject to massaging by donors relabelling existing aid. In particular, there has been a welcome focus on providing public goods like new strains of crop suitable for tropical climates.