"Skyrocketing prices for basic food and energy are putting many already vulnerable children in an increasingly weak position" says Helmut Kutin, President of SOS Children's Villages. In many communities, mainly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the increased cost of living is forcing parents to make difficult decisions in the fulfilment of their children's basic needs.
For many of the 800 million people already struggling to meet the most basic of needs, rising food prices have created an unbearable additional strain. Families with low and fixed incomes, such as wage labourers, are particularly hard hit by the food crisis. It is for these people, who are most sensitive to fluctuations in basic food prices, that basic goods such as rice, corn or grains are becoming unaffordable. The rising food prices have created social unrest in many parts of the developing world.
In our work with families, we see that children become increasingly vulnerable when their parents are faced with serious socio-economic pressures. For this reason, a large part of SOS Children's Villages' work with families focuses on supporting them to find sustainable ways to meet their children's development needs. If the food crisis continues, Richard Pichler, secretary general of SOS-Kinderdorf International, foresees the endangerment of many families: "There is no doubt that the families in the SOS Children's Villages also need to take budgetary precautions in other areas in order to balance out for the higher expenses for food. Yet, the families in our family strengthening programmes are affected by the crisis a great deal more. They are now in the position where they have to divert money from their children's education and healthcare to be able to buy food. Already, children are being taken out of school."
A combination of factors is responsible for the mounting food and energy prices. Recent developments in alternative fuel production have had great impacts on food prices. As oil sources are becoming scarcer and the oil price is continuing to rise after doubling in the past year, such alternative sources have become more appealing. Since bio fuel like ethanol is produced from corn, more land is being devoted to its cultivation for this purpose, pushing back food production and leading to an upwards push of prices. Adding to the problem, the price of agricultural inputs such as oil-based fertilisers has risen sharply, in some places by up to 70 percent.
In addition to higher production cost, climate changes (lack of rain fall, droughts and floods) also have effects on the food prices as bad climatic conditions have negative impacts on harvests.
With the growth of urban areas in, and prosperity of, certain Asian economies, more people can afford to consume higher quantities of more expensive foods, such as meat products. This has meant that the demand for food, and thereby its global market value, has increased.
Restrictive policies for exportation in producing countries, as well as speculation on the world market, have further added to the difficulties. Most affected by the high prices are countries that largely depend on imports for their basic foods, as is the case for the Philippines with regard to rice, for Mexico with regard to corn and rice, and for Kosovo concerning grain products. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that the amount of money spent on food imports in 2008 will have risen by 26% from 2007.
Mr Pichler emphasises "the current situation demands international solidarity and close cooperation between organisations, governments, and economic decision-makers. In the individual countries, SOS Children's Villages is working toward tailored solutions to a problem that is likely to continue to occupy us on the middle to long term. Securing all rights of children is paramount to us, which, under the current circumstances, is becoming increasingly difficult. In order to be able to protect every single child from the consequences of this global crisis, SOS Children's Villages will certainly need additional funds."
Working in, and with, communities across the world, SOS Children's Villages is not isolated from the food crisis. It is living through it with the communities.
Please visit our website where we take a closer look at a selection of countries: Kosovo (Kosovos urban poor hard hit by food crisis), Haiti (Mud cakes for relieving hunger - food crisis in Haiti), Philippines (Philippines - difficult choices between basic needs), Mexico (SOS Children's Villages Mexico - focus on providing basic needs), Egypt (An Egyptian mother struggles to feed her family)
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Farmers sun wheat on a threshing floor in Xiangfan, Hubei province June 4, 2008. The China National Grain and Oils Information Centre on Wednesday raised its estimate for China's 2008 wheat ...
