High food prices prevented more than 19 million people in the Asia-Pacific region from lifting themselves out of poverty last year, the United Nations said in a new study released today, warning that soaring food and fuel inflation will keep large sections of the region’s population below the poverty threshold. The assessment by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) says that rising food prices can...

Food security should be used as an indicator of vulnerability to climate change Staple food varieties better adapted to future climatic conditions must be developed “Potentially catastrophic” impacts on food production from slow-onset climate changes are expected to increasingly hit the developing world in the future, and action is required now to prepare for those impacts, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned on Thursday in a report to the United Nations...

Food inflation snapped a three-week easing trend in mid-March and fuel inflation remained at elevated levels, keeping pressure on the Reserve Bank to rein in broader inflation. The food price index rose an annual 10.05% in the week to March 12, higher than a 9.42% rise in the previous week as prices of potatoes and vegetables rose, data released on Thursday showed. The fuel price index climbed 12.79% in the same week,...

The Budget should be an instrument of economic discipline and a promoter of healthy social development. As it is, it is like a leaky tap; it cannot halt inflation without disciplining political skulduggery. March 21, 2011:   A lot has been written about the Budget, how it affects this or that industry or business, or how it will increase or decrease the GNP growth rate. Undoubtedly, all those factors are important. But...

Food inflation, hovering in the double digits, may play spoilsport to India’s ability to continue its rapid economic growth. It is truly troubling that food still consumes half of the expenditure of the average Indian household. No wonder a sharp spike in onion prices has the potential to upset the political calculus of social stability. India’s biggest challenge still remains ensuring food and nutritional security to its masses. Notwithstanding the nation’s...