ABSTRACT

The issue of access to, and availability of, food on a global basis, known as food security,1 has been making headway on the political and media agenda since the start of the twenty-fi rst century. What now gives cause for concern is the increase in food prices. From 1945, there was a long period of stagnating and declining prices on agricultural markets, punctuated only by a spurt in the 1970s, in concomitance with the oil shock that followed the embargo decided by the OPEC2 countries. Since the mid 1990s there has been an inverse trend, with sharp peaks in farm commodity prices in 2007/2008 and 2010/2011. The most recent forecasts indicate a sizeable rise in prices for the coming years. Despite the debate on the role played by the various factors involved, most academics agree that the long era of abundant food, available at low prices, is over, and has given way to an era of new scarcity.