Answer the call for food aid

Kansas City Star: Riots in Haiti and elsewhere portend worse to come if the world does not deal effectively with rapid increases in the cost of food. Already the impact on the poorest regions is staggering.

In many countries, 70 percent to 80 percent of a family’s budget goes to purchase food. Children and others face malnutrition and even starvation.

Their governments struggle with widespread hunger caused by global economic forces that are largely beyond their control: rising fuel prices, higher costs of grains because of ethanol production in the United States, and the growing demand for meat in better-faring India and China.

For the short term, the world’s industrialized countries need to answer the World Food Program’s call for $500 million in additional pledges to help feed the developing world.

Shrinking dollar

This doesn’t come at an easy time for the United States. The shrinking dollar means American aid — a critical component of world contributions — does not go as far as it once did.

But the alternatives are starvation and instability in more places like Haiti, where 80 percent of the population lives on $2 a day and most food is imported.

Riots over higher prices for rice, beans and other staples drove out the prime minister and put pressure on the government of Haiti. Egypt, Cameroon, Ethiopia and others also have experienced recent rioting.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick has estimated that 33 countries could face food-related instability. The lack of food often leads to conflict — against governments that cannot feed their people and against neighbors that have more abundance. The sparks can light larger fires throughout continents.

For the long term, the industrialized world needs to find better solutions to unstable food prices.

A start would be curbing fuel costs that are tied to food production and transportation. More efficient energy use would help.