The Global Food Crisis: “The Silent Tsunami”

Over the past five years, droughts in grain-producing nations, increased oil prices and sales of corn to produce biofuels have contributed to skyrocketing food prices and lower quantities of food reserves. Issues of food and food security differ in complexity across state, national and regional boundaries, often depending on the strength of a country’s economy and the stability of its political leadership. Climate change, greater demand from a growing world population, and the global economy and financial landscape are all factors that can shape a community’s access to safe, nutritious and affordable food.

On November 24, Global Economy and Development at Brookings hosted a discussion on nutrition, school feeding programs and food security in the developing world, featuring World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick; Josette Sheeran, executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme; and Samuel Worthington, president and CEO of InterAction. Homi Kharas, senior fellow at the Wolfensohn Center for Development at Brookings, gave introductory remarks and moderated the discussion.