Kluff said fortunately rice, a food security crop in Asia and parts of Africa, is not being dramatically affected right now.

G20

The G20 agriculture ministers meet in Paris next week. It’s the ministers’ first-ever official meeting as a group and Kluff expects them to address the link between food security and higher commodity prices.

“This is fundamental to the issue. In fact, we covered this issue of volatility last year in our report and we covered it again in this year’s report primarily for this reason,” he said.

The FAO and OECD have proposed some solutions, including better informing buyers and traders.

“We need to increase productivity growth, in particular, in developing countries. And we need to get greater information, market information, from countries so that we actually know what’s going on,” said Kluff.

He warned that countries that have imposed food export restrictions out of fear of higher prices could actually make matters worse.

FAO director-general Jacque Diouf said the “key solution” to price volatility “will be boosting investment in agriculture and reinforcing rural development in developing countries.”