As biofuels boom, will more go hungry?

Using plants to feed our fuel needs may be a great idea, and the biofuel goldrush could be a moneyspinner for several poor countries, but some experts warn people may go hungry as food prices rise.

Some experts foresee a permanent change in food economics if farmers scent higher profit in fuel crops than in growing plants to feed people.

“We’re into a new structure of markets,” said British food aid expert Edward Clay. “It could have profound implications on poor people.”
Food costs as a proportion of incomes have been on a downward slide since World War Two, at least in the West. Clay says one of the big questions now is whether biofuels could reverse that process and take us into a new economic era which might be yet harder on the poor.

Although he says the current spike in prices will be temporary, he is not convinced food prices will fall back to pre-biofuel boom levels.

Reuters