– What would be your reaction if you were told that food prices are steadily declining worldwide? Good, very good news, you may say. But do the 600 million small, family farmers, those who produce up to 80 per cent of food in some regions, think the same way? Definitely not at all.
In fact, declining prices could thwart international efforts to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty, says the head of the United Nations leading agency in the field of food and agriculture.
People need affordable food, but prices must provide decent livelihoods for small-scale family farmers, says José Graziano da Silva, director general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
“Low food prices reduce the incomes of farmers, especially poor family farmers who produce staple food in the developing countries. This cut in the flow of cash into rural communities also reduces the incentives for new investments in production, infrastructure and services,”