It has been called the "silent tsunami." In the past 24 months, grain prices have doubled. Prices of fertilizers and fuels have tripled. Thirty countries from Bangladesh to Haiti have seen food riots, and there is sticker shock at supermarkets even in rich nations."This is the world's big story," says Earth Institute director Jeffrey Sachs. "We're really in the perfect storm."
The storm includes rising demand from growing populations; stagnation in the growth of crop production; increasing diversion of food crops into biofuels; and droughts from Australia to Italy, which may be the cutting edge of ongoing climate change.
According to Sachs and other Earth Institute leaders, the world must adapt to climate and other challenges using both technology and common sense, in order to produce more food, and ensure that the poor, as well as the rich, have access to it. More >>>
