The Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) has published a report analyzing the role of speculation on rising commodity prices. The report states that volatile food prices have caused 40 million people to go hungry worldwide since 2008, and shows the impact of excessive speculation on small-scale farmers. In the report, National Director of Intelligence Dennis Blair tells the US Senate that the global economic crisis, triggered by financial deregulation, has “replaced Al-Qaeda as the number one U.S. national security threat.” The report also includes articles by UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Olivier De Schutter and Jayati Ghost from the World Development Movement.
April 2011
To read the report, click here.