Food Speculation

Financial speculation on the future prices of food had a significant role in the food price crisis of 2008. Food prices shot up, precipitating riots and social unrest in many parts of the world. The World Development Movement estimated that this increased the number of “chronically malnourished people” by 75 million in 2007 and another 40 million in 2008 [1].

Food speculation has continued to affect global markets more recently, with food prices reaching a record high in 2011 [2]. In the last six months of 2010 alone, 44 million people were pushed into extreme poverty by rising food prices [3].

[1] World Development Movement, The Great Hunger Lottery: How Banking Speculation Causes Food Crisis, July 2010

[2] UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, (FAO) Food Price Index. FAO. 5 May 2011

[3] World Development Movement, Broken markets - How financial market regulation can help prevent another global food crisis, September 2011