Biofuels the source of world food crisis: leaked report

Stephen C. Webster
Raw Story
Friday, July 4, 2008

The United States Government’s Agriculture department recently claimed that the production of biofuels, or plant-based gas for use in combustion engines, has contributed a mere 3 percent to the growing cost of food worldwide. However, a leaked report from the World Bank, detailed in a new report by the UK’s The Guardian, claims that these same fuels are at the root of nearly 75 percent of increases in world food prices.

It is believed, say the story’s sources, that the report has been complete since April 2008, though not published so as to avoid embarrassing President George W. Bush.

“Political leaders seem intent on suppressing and ignoring the strong evidence that biofuels are a major factor in recent food price rises,” said Robert Bailey, policy adviser at Oxfam, as quoted by The Guardian. “It is imperative that we have the full picture. While politicians concentrate on keeping industry lobbies happy, people in poor countries cannot afford enough to eat.”

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The World Bank’s report estimates that rising food costs have pushed nearly 100 million people worldwide below the poverty line. The report also states that even massive droughts in Africa have had less of an effect on food prices than the US and Europe’s push for biofuel supplies.

Additionally, the World Bank estimates a full third of corn produced in the US is being dedicated to the production of biofuels, as well as nearly half of Europe’s vegetable oil. However, biofuels derived from food products such as sugarcane, the report says, do not have nearly as much impact.

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