OECD report says meat prices will rise by 30%
21/06/2011
The report states that over the coming decade real prices for meat could be as much as 30% higher, compared to the decade 2001–10. Higher prices for commodities are being passed through the food chain, leading to rising consumer price inflation in most countries. This raises concerns for economic stability and food security in some developing countries, with poor consumers at risk of malnutrition, the report says.
“While higher prices are generally good news for farmers, the impact on the poor in developing countries who spend a high proportion of their income on food can be devastating,” said secretary-general of Paris-based OECD, Ángel Gurría. “That is why we are calling on governments to encourage investments that increase productivity in developing countries, remove production and trade distorting policies and assist the vulnerable to better manage risk and uncertainty.”
FAO director general, Jacques Diouf, said: “The key solution to the problem will be boosting investment in agriculture and reinforcing rural development in developing countries, where 98% of the hungry people live today and where population is expected to increase by 47% over the next decades.” Action should focus in particular on smallholders in low-income food-deficit countries, he added.
The new report sees global agricultural production growing more slowly over the next decade than in the past 10 years. Farm output is expected to rise by 1.7% annually, compared to the 2.6% growth rate of the past decade. Despite this slower growth, production per capita is still projected to rise by 0.7% annually.
Per-capita food consumption will expand most rapidly in eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America, where incomes are rising and populations growth is slowing. Meat, along with dairy products, vegetable oils and sugar should experience the highest demand increases, according to the report.
Global production in the fisheries sector is projected to increase by 1.3% annually to 2020. This is slower than growth over the previous decade, due to reduced or stagnant capture of wild fish stocks and lower growth rates in aquaculture, which underwent a rapid expansion over the 2001–2010 period. By 2015, aquaculture is projected to surpass capture fisheries as the most important source of fish for human consumption, and by 2020 should represent about 45% of total fishery production, including non-food uses.
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