by wildcherry on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 | News, World

The crisis currently gripping the world economy will likely cause an additional 200 million people to fall into “absolute poverty,” warns an international coalition of trade unions.

Over 850 million people worldwide are at risk due to the food crisis, and half of the 10 million people who die of hunger each year are children. Rising fuel costs, erratic weather patterns, and the conversion of land to grow crops for biofuels are all factors in the global food crisis. Rising incomes in poorer countries have also increased food demand in recent years, diminishing global reserves.

Last week, 183 faith, farm, food, hunger, and international development groups from around the world appealed to U.S. President Barack Obama to protect hundreds of millions of people from the global food crisis by preventing price speculation in commodity markets. The 2008 food price instability “could have been stopped with sensible rules that, if enforced, would have staved off the malnutrition and starvation that was caused by excessive gambling of food prices,” states the letter. “Important reforms are needed now to prevent mega-investors from viewing the futures market like a casino where they can gamble on hunger.”
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Tags: food, Global food crisis, hunger, starvation