The Structural Roots of Hunger, Food Crises and Riots
Print & pdfBy James Petras
All the major international banks (IMF, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Asia Development Bank etc), all the major financial newspapers and mass media have been forced to recognize that there is a major food crisis, that hundreds of millions of people face hunger, malnutrition and outright starvation.
‘The world’s poor countries will spend about $38.7 billion dollars importing cereals this year, double the amount they paid two years ago for the same amounts and a 57% increase from 2007.’
Quote from US Senator Byron Dorgan at the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (UN FAO) Financial Times, April 21, 2008 p.19
Introduction
World conferences have been convoked, national emergencies have been declared as millions riot in nearly 50 countries, and threaten to overthrow regimes and mass social tensions rise even in the most dynamic, high-growth countries like China and India. Even in the imperialist countries in North America and Europe, skyrocketing food prices, combined with stagnant wages, home evictions and debt payments threaten incumbent regimes and increase pressures on all governments to take urgent action.



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