Price Volatility in Agricultural Commodities

FARMD (November 2013) | Price Volatility in Agricultural Commodities has been a leading headline in the news for months, credited with civil unrest in the Middle East, blamed on speculative trading, and prompting fears for rising food prices around the world. FARMD has put together in this section a wide array of available information on this topic, from the web and FARMD's own resources, in an effort to  inform and fuel debate amongst the FARMD Community.

New FARMD Interview with Franck Galtier!

FARMD (November 2013) | This interview with Franck Galtier from CIRAD discusses the research work of Dr. Galtier related to grain price volatility and the dominating theories with how to manage such risks: free market mechanisms. Rather. Dr. Galtier argues that this is not a viable solution for developing countries.

 

FARMD (November 2013) | This second part of FARMD's interview with Franck Galtier goes on to discuss the consequences and effects of price volatility for farmers, consumers and macroeconomic effects.

 

Latest Additions:

In November 2013 the World Bank hosted an event featuring Franck Galiter from CIRAD. The presentations from the event are available below for dowload. 

Original Articles

FARMD (Sep. 2013) |  MFarm Price Information: Next Generation Agriculture in Kenya. Farmers all over Kenya are using MFarm prices to upgrade their agriculture, for example, Jacob Odoyo who has a farm in Ahero says he can’t sell his Kales to anyone before confirming prices of different markets in MFarm. His revenue has risen ever since he started using MFarm price information.

To read the full article, click here.

Presentations:

FARMD (May 2012) | The following presentations were made at the World Bank in May 2012, highlighting different agricultural price stabilization options, using Indian Examples:

 Useful Resources from Conference and Events

Videos

Thompson Reuters Insider (September 2011) |  This video reviews the release of the FAO August 2011 Food Price Index, up 26% from August 2010 and only 7 points shy of the all time high reached in February. For further insight, FAO's Senior Grains Economist Abdolreza Abbassian is interviewed from Rome, who states that this index is really telling us that globally food prices are remaining high and that there is no reason to be optimistic that things will get better any time soon. 

Visit Reuters Insider to watch the video

OECD-FAO (June 2011) | Agricultural Outlook 2011-2020  Food prices have skyrocketed over the past 5 years, bad weather has hurt harvests, export bans in key farming countries have curbed trade, rising energy costs are making it more expensive to produce food, experts say high food prices are likely here to stay. Governments should help boost agricultural productivity and reduce trade barriers, says OECD agriculture analyst Céline Giner.

Visit YouTube to watch the video!


The World Bank (April 2011) | Every day nearly 1 billion people go to bed hungry. Rising and volatile food prices are causing pain and suffering for poor people around the world, driving 44 million people into extreme poverty in recent months. It highlights the need to find solutions to ensure everyone has enough nutritious food now and in the years to come.

Visit YouTube to watch the video

 

Watch more videos

Blog Posts and Opinion

AlertNet | Climate Conversations - To feed the world, keep farmers at the center of G20 agenda
(AlertNet, September 2011)
After decades of growing cassava and maize, the soil on Ali Watiti Rapando’s family farm in western Kenya had grown too barren to support his family.He sought out local researchers who helped him diversify by creating a beehive and a chicken run and, finally, a radical crop addition - soybeans. These “magical beans,” as he calls them, act as natural fertilizer for Watiti’s maize and provide protein for his family’s diet.

WorldCrops | Food prices – biofuels matter
(WorldCrops, August 2011)
It is generally accepted that food prices are high because worldwide food demand is outstripping supply, but a new report by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) pretty much explodes the easy myths that have grown up to explain away that demand.

Foreign Affairs | Why Food Price Volatility Doesn't Matter: Policy Makers Should Focus on Bringing Costs Down
(Council on Foreign Relations, July 2011)
By Christopher Barrett and Marc Bellemare In proposing measures to curb erratic swings in food prices, global leaders have conflated high prices with unstable ones. That's a mistake. In fact, the real problem is expensive food, so policies aimed at curbing volatility -- such as export bans, price stabilization schemes, and subsidies for farmers -- won't help those who need it.

Read more

Publications & Events

 

More resources