ABSTRACT
This chapter utilizes available statistics and sample survey data for China for the years 2006 and 2007 to show the impacts of price hikes on low-income groups and the poor in terms of food and energy consumption. It considers the public actions that need to be undertaken to balance food security and energy requirements. The chapter analyses the impacts of the food and energy crisis on the poor and considers the changes in the food and energy consumption of rural sample households in China. Since 2007, global food prices have been on a steep rise, joining the preceding energy price hike. Global food prices are hitting the world economy with great force, like a "silent tsunami", and affecting in particular the economies that rely on energy and food imports. With regard to "energy security," the International Energy Agency has very much emphasized oil supply security.
