Data for WORLD FACING HUGE NEW CHALLENGE ON FOOD FRONT - Business-as-Usual Not a Viable Option

Food Price Unrest Around the World, September 2007-April 2008 (table)

Wheat Prices, January 1999 through April 2008 (figure)

Corn Prices, January 1999 through April 2008 (figure)

Soybean Prices, January 1999 through April 2008 (figure)

Countries Importing Half or More of Their Grain Consumption, 2007 (table)

Top Ten Exporters of Corn, Wheat, Rice, and Total Grains, 2007 (table)

World Grain Production, Consumption, and Balance, 1960-2007 (figure and table)

World Grain Consumption and Stocks, 1960-2007 (figure and table)

World Grain Stocks as Days of Consumption, 1960-2007 (figure)

World Grain Production, 1950-2007 (figure and table)

World Grain Production Per Person, 1950-2007 (figure and table)

World Grain Harvested Area, 1950-2007 (figure and table)

World Grain Harvested Area Per Person, 1950-2007 (figure and table)

World Irrigated Area, 1950-2003 (figure and table)

World Irrigated Area Per Person, 1950-2003 (figure and table)

World Grain Yield Annual Increase by Decade, 1950-2007 (table)

U.S. Grain Production, Fuel Ethanol Use and Export, 1980-2007, with Projection to 2008 (figure and table)

 

Food Price Unrest Around the World, September 2007- April 2008
Location	Date	Description
Haiti	April 2008	Days of rioting left five people dead, including a U.N. peacekeeper, and forced the resignation of Haiti's Prime Minister. Food prices in the country, the poorest in the western hemisphere, have increased by between 50 and 100 percent in the last year.
Thailand	April 2008	Rice is now so valuable that thieves have taken to stealing it out of fields at night; the army is now being used to prevent food theft.
Bangladesh	April 2008	Twenty eight people were injured after ten thousand workers rioted in the capital, Dhaka, demanding higher pay to cover fast-increasing food costs. Rice prices in Bangladesh have doubled in the last year.
Trinidad and Tobago	April 2008	Bandits hijacked and looted two vans carrying flour, milk and juice as prices rose in supermarkets across the country.
Egypt	March-April 2008	Rice prices in Egypt have more than doubled in the last few months. Many people now depend on state-subsidized bread which is sold for 20 percent of market price. Fights in the long bread lines have left at least six people dead and the government has called in the army to bake bread for the public.
Côte d'Ivoire	March-April 2008	Protests against high food prices left one person dead and 20 wounded and prompted the government to temporarily suspend taxes on staple goods.
Ethiopia	March-April 2008	Prices of basic foods in Addis Ababa have jumped between 30-70 percent since last summer. The government has banned cereal exports and is subsidizing wheat for low-income city dwellers.
United Arab Emirates	March 2008	Soaring food prices caused hundreds of workers to protest for higher wages in Sharjah, where cars and offices were set on fire.
Senegal	March 2008 & November 2007	Senegal's 18 unions marched last November to protest the spiraling cost of basic food. Further unrest in March led to clashes with police and at least 24 arrests.
Philippines	February-April 2008	In February, the Philippines, the world's largest rice importer, made a direct appeal to Vietnam asking it to guarantee rice supplies. In April, the government deployed troops to deliver grain to poor areas in the capital. Amid growing fears of shortages, the government has also asked fast-food restaurants to serve half portions of rice.
Afghanistan	February-March 2008	Wheat export restrictions by Pakistan have caused prices to double over much of the country, leading to an increase in smuggling over the border. Continued high prices could contribute to spreading social unrest.
Burkina Faso	February-March 2008	Three hundred protestors were arrested in food price riots. Unions marched demanding further cuts in taxes and prices. The government responded by suspending import duties on staple food imports for three months.
Morocco	February 2008 and September 2007	In February, 34 people were sentenced to jail for taking part in food price riots. This followed rioting in September 2007 when protestors clashed with police after the government raised the price of bread 30 percent.
Cameroon	February 2008	At least 24 people were killed and over 1,500 arrested over riots caused by rising food and fuel costs in the worst unrest seen in over 15 years.
Yemen	February 2008	The prices of bread and other staple foods nearly doubled in four months, provoking demonstrations and riots that killed at least a dozen people.
Pakistan	January-February 2008	Thousands demonstrated in January after the price of wheat flour doubled in less than a week. The army is being used to guard grain supplies and to crack down on hoarding and smuggling into Afghanistan, and the government has introduced ration cards for the first time since the 1980s.
Indonesia	January 2008	More than 10,000 people took to the streets in Jakarta on January 14 to protest soybean prices that more than doubled in a year, increasing the cost of the Indonesian soy-based staple, tempeh.
China	November 2007	Inflation in China is the worst it has been in more than a decade and food inflation has reached 18.2 percent. Cooking oil is now so expensive that 3 people were trampled to death in November in a stampede to grab bottles at a reduced price.
Mauritania	November 2007	A sudden rise in the price of staple foods triggered demonstrations across the country that left at least 2 people dead and 10 wounded. The government plans to respond by raising civil service salaries by 10% and eliminating tariffs on rice.
Uzbekistan	September 2007	Protests took place in the heavily-populated Ferghana Valley region after local bread prices rose 50 to 100 percent.
Source: Compiled by Frances C. Moore, Earth Policy Institute, www.earthpolicy.org, 16 April 2008 using "Clashes Over Food Prices Trouble Political Leaders," Reuters, 2 April 2008, Julian Borger, "Feed the World? We Are Fighting a Loosing Battle, UN Admits," The Guardian (U.K.), 26 February 2008, and other press reports.

Countries Importing Half or More of Their Grain Consumption, 2007
Country	Grain Imports as Share of Consumption
	Percent
Taiwan	83
Yemen	77
Cuba	77
Japan	73
Malaysia	73
South Korea	70
Saudi Arabia	66
Colombia	65
Algeria	62
Tunisia	59
Morocco	57
Guatemala	52
Iraq	51
Angola	50
Note: Countries with populations of 10 million or more are included. Grain includes barley, corn, millet, mixed grain, oats, rice, rye, sorghum, and wheat.
Source: Compiled by Earth Policy Institute from United States Department of Agriculture, Production, Supply and Distribution, electronic database, at www.fas.usda.gov/psdonline, updated 9 April 2008.

Top Ten Exporters of Corn, Wheat, Rice, and Total Grains, 2007
Corn			Wheat			Rice			Total Grain
Rank	Country	Million Tons	Rank	Country	Million Tons	Rank	Country	Million Tons	Rank	Country	Million Tons
1	United States	62.0	1	United States	32.5	1	Thailand	9.0	1	United States	106.1
2	Argentina	15.0	2	Canada	14.5	2	Vietnam	5.0	2	Argentina	28.1
3	Brazil	9.0	3	Russia	12.0	3	United States	3.5	3	Canada	18.6
4	Paraguay	1.6	4	Argentina	11.0	4	India	3.4	4	EU	14.3
5	Ukraine	1.2	5	EU	9.0	5	Pakistan	2.9	5	Russia	13.1
6	China	1.0	6	Australia	8.0	6	China	1.3	6	Australia	10.6
7	South Africa	0.8	7	Kazakhstan	8.0	7	Egypt	1.1	7	Thailand	9.3
8	India	0.5	8	Ukraine	5.2	8	Uruguay	0.8	8	Kazakhstan	9.0
9	Canada	0.4	9	China	2.5	9	Argentina	0.5	9	Brazil	8.7
10	EU	0.3	10	Turkey	1.5	10	Cambodia	0.5	10	Vietnam	5.0
Note: Total grain includes barley, corn, millet, mixed grain, oats, rice, rye, sorghum, and wheat.
Source: Compiled by Earth Policy Institute from U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service, Grain: World Markets and Trade (Washington, DC: January 2008).

World Grain Production, Consumption, and Balance, 1960-2007
Year	Production	Consumption	Surplus or Deficit
	Million Metric Tons	Million Metric Tons	Million Metric Tons
1960	824	815	8
1961	800	817	-17
1962	850	838	13
1963	858	852	6
1964	906	896	10
1965	905	932	-27
1966	988	957	32
1967	1,014	988	27
1968	1,052	1,020	32
1969	1,063	1,069	-6
1970	1,079	1,108	-29
1971	1,177	1,150	27
1972	1,141	1,174	-33
1973	1,253	1,230	23
1974	1,203	1,190	13
1975	1,237	1,212	25
1976	1,342	1,273	69
1977	1,319	1,320	0
1978	1,445	1,380	65
1979	1,410	1,416	-6
1980	1,429	1,440	-11
1981	1,482	1,458	24
1982	1,533	1,475	58
1983	1,469	1,501	-32
1984	1,632	1,549	83
1985	1,646	1,553	94
1986	1,664	1,601	63
1987	1,600	1,640	-40
1988	1,550	1,621	-71
1989	1,673	1,677	-4
1990	1,768	1,707	61
1991	1,709	1,713	-5
1992	1,785	1,737	48
1993	1,711	1,739	-28
1994	1,756	1,762	-6
1995	1,708	1,739	-31
1996	1,873	1,808	64
1997	1,879	1,821	58
1998	1,876	1,835	41
1999	1,872	1,855	17
2000	1,843	1,857	-15
2001	1,875	1,902	-28
2002	1,822	1,909	-88
2003	1,862	1,934	-72
2004	2,043	1,990	53
2005	2,017	2,019	-2
2006	1,992	2,043	-51
2007	2,075	2,098	-22
Source: Compiled by Earth Policy Institute from U.S. Department of Agriculture, Production, Supply & Distribution, electronic database, www.fas.usda.gov, updated 11 January 2008.

 

World Grain Consumption and Stocks, 1960-2007
Year	Consumption	Stocks	Stocks
	Million Metric Tons	Million Metric Tons	Days of Consumption
1960	815	203	91
1961	817	182	81
1962	838	190	83
1963	852	193	83
1964	896	194	79
1965	932	159	62
1966	957	189	72
1967	988	213	79
1968	1,020	244	87
1969	1,069	228	78
1970	1,108	193	64
1971	1,150	218	69
1972	1,174	180	56
1973	1,230	192	57
1974	1,190	199	61
1975	1,212	219	66
1976	1,273	280	80
1977	1,320	278	77
1978	1,380	333	88
1979	1,416	328	84
1980	1,440	308	78
1981	1,458	331	83
1982	1,475	389	96
1983	1,501	348	85
1984	1,549	428	101
1985	1,553	518	122
1986	1,601	572	130
1987	1,640	527	117
1988	1,621	449	101
1989	1,677	439	96
1990	1,707	492	105
1991	1,713	483	103
1992	1,737	518	109
1993	1,739	482	101
1994	1,762	476	99
1995	1,739	436	91
1996	1,808	487	98
1997	1,821	541	108
1998	1,836	578	115
1999	1,855	585	115
2000	1,858	564	111
2001	1,904	534	102
2002	1,910	441	84
2003	1,934	356	67
2004	1,989	405	74
2005	2,019	390	71
2006	2,041	339	61
2007	2,104	317	55
Source: Compiled by Earth Policy Institute from U.S. Department of Agriculture, Production, Supply & Distribution, electronic database, www.fas.usda.gov, updated 9 April 2008.

World Grain Production, Total and Per Person, 1950-2007
Year	Production	Production per Person
	Million Tons	Kilograms
1950	631	249
1951	655	254
1952	680	259
1953	705	264
1954	730	268
1955	759	274
1956	773	274
1957	788	275
1958	802	274
1959	815	274
1960	824	272
1961	800	259
1962	850	270
1963	858	267
1964	906	277
1965	905	271
1966	988	290
1967	1,014	291
1968	1,052	296
1969	1,063	293
1970	1,079	292
1971	1,177	312
1972	1,141	296
1973	1,253	319
1974	1,203	301
1975	1,237	303
1976	1,342	323
1977	1,319	312
1978	1,445	336
1979	1,410	322
1980	1,429	321
1981	1,482	327
1982	1,533	333
1983	1,469	313
1984	1,632	342
1985	1,646	339
1986	1,664	337
1987	1,600	318
1988	1,550	303
1989	1,673	321
1990	1,768	334
1991	1,709	317
1992	1,785	326
1993	1,711	308
1994	1,756	312
1995	1,708	299
1996	1,873	323
1997	1,879	319
1998	1,876	314
1999	1,872	310
2000	1,843	301
2001	1,875	302
2002	1,822	290
2003	1,862	293
2004	2,043	317
2005	2,017	310
2006	1,992	302
2007	2,075	311
Source: Compiled by Earth Policy Institute using 1960-2007 grain data from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Production, Supply & Distribution, electronic database, www.fas.usda.gov, updated 11 January 2008; 1950-1959 grain data from USDA, cited in Worldwatch Institute, Signposts 2001, CD-Rom (Washington, DC: 2001); population from United Nations, World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision (New York: 2006).

World Grain Harvested Area, Total and Per Person, 1950-2007
Year	Area	Per Person Area
	Million Hectares	Hectares
1950	587	0.23
1951	593	0.23
1952	604	0.23
1953	623	0.23
1954	631	0.23
1955	639	0.23
1956	640	0.23
1957	645	0.22
1958	644	0.22
1959	642	0.22
1960	639	0.21
1961	635	0.21
1962	641	0.20
1963	648	0.20
1964	657	0.20
1965	653	0.20
1966	655	0.19
1967	665	0.19
1968	670	0.19
1969	672	0.19
1970	663	0.18
1971	672	0.18
1972	661	0.17
1973	688	0.18
1974	690	0.17
1975	708	0.17
1976	716	0.17
1977	714	0.17
1978	713	0.17
1979	710	0.16
1980	722	0.16
1981	732	0.16
1982	717	0.16
1983	708	0.15
1984	711	0.15
1985	716	0.15
1986	710	0.14
1987	686	0.14
1988	689	0.13
1989	696	0.13
1990	695	0.13
1991	693	0.13
1992	696	0.13
1993	686	0.12
1994	685	0.12
1995	682	0.12
1996	703	0.12
1997	691	0.12
1998	687	0.12
1999	671	0.11
2000	667	0.11
2001	667	0.11
2002	654	0.10
2003	665	0.10
2004	668	0.10
2005	673	0.10
2006	670	0.10
2007	687	0.10
Source: Compiled by Earth Policy Institute with 1950-59 from Worldwatch Institute, Signposts 2000, CD-Rom (Washington, DC: 2000); 1960-2007 from United States Department of Agriculture, Production, Supply and Distribution, electronic database at www.fas.usda.gov/psdonline, updated 9 April 2008; U.N. Population Division, World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision, electronic database at esa.un.org/unpp, updated 2007.

World Irrigated Area, Total and Per Person, 1950-2003
Year	Irrigated Area	Irrigated Area Per Person
	Million Hectares	Square Meters
1950	94.0	371
1951	98.1	380
1952	102.1	389
1953	106.2	397
1954	110.3	405
1955	114.4	413
1956	118.4	420
1957	122.5	427
1958	126.6	433
1959	130.7	439
1960	134.7	444
1961	138.8	449
1962	141.5	449
1963	144.2	449
1964	146.8	448
1965	149.8	448
1966	153.1	449
1967	156.1	449
1968	159.6	449
1969	163.7	452
1970	167.7	453
1971	171.5	454
1972	175.1	455
1973	180.2	459
1974	183.7	459
1975	188.1	462
1976	192.3	463
1977	195.7	463
1978	203.7	474
1979	207.2	474
1980	209.3	470
1981	212.5	469
1982	215.4	467
1983	218.6	466
1984	222.8	467
1985	225.2	464
1986	227.6	461
1987	229.3	456
1988	232.1	454
1989	238.7	459
1990	245.2	463
1991	248.6	462
1992	254.9	466
1993	258.1	465
1994	260.1	462
1995	263.7	461
1996	266.0	458
1997	269.8	459
1998	271.4	455
1999	274.1	453
2000	276.3	451
2001	274.9	443
2002	277.2	441
2003	277.1	436
Note: Latest available data is for 2003.
Source: Compiled by Earth Policy Institute with 1950-60 from Worldwatch Institute, compiled for Lester R. Brown, "Eradicating Hunger: A Growing Challenge," in State of the World 2001 (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2001), pp. 52-53; 1961-2003 from U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), FAOSTAT, electronic database, at faostat.fao.org, updated 19 January 2006; population data from United Nations, World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision, electronic databse at esa.un.org/unpp, updated 2007.

World Grain Yield Annual Increase by Decade, 1950-2007
Decade	Annual Increase
	Percent
1950-1960	2.0
1960-1970	2.5
1970-1980	1.9
1980-1990	2.1
1990-2000	1.2
2000-2007*	1.2
* Annual increase over eight years.
Note: Grain yields for 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000 calculated using 3 year averages.
Source: Compiled by Earth Policy Institute with 1950-1959 from Worldwatch Institute, Signposts 2001, CD-Rom (Washington, DC: 2001); 1960-2007 from U.S. Department of Agriculture, Production, Supply and Distribution, electronic database at www.fas.usda.gov/psdonline, updated 9 April 2008.

U.S. Grain Production, Fuel Ethanol Use and Export, 1980-2007, with Projection to 2008
Year	U.S. Grain Production	U.S. Grain for Fuel Ethanol	U.S. Grain Exports
	Million Tons	Million Tons	Million Tons
1980	268	1	114
1981	328	2	110
1982	331	4	96
1983	206	4	97
1984	313	6	97
1985	345	7	63
1986	313	7	76
1987	278	7	98
1988	204	7	103
1989	282	8	106
1990	310	9	83
1991	278	10	87
1992	350	11	90
1993	257	12	76
1994	353	14	98
1995	275	10	99
1996	333	11	81
1997	334	12	76
1998	347	13	87
1999	332	14	89
2000	340	16	88
2001	321	18	84
2002	294	25	73
2003	345	30	89
2004	386	34	84
2005	363	41	91
2006	336	54	86
2007	414	81	106
2008 *	400	114	NA
* 2008 values are projections by Earth Policy Institute. Grain for fuel ethanol assumes 80 percent of ethanol distilleries currently under construction will be completed to draw from the 2008 harvest.
Note: Values are for crop years which begin in September of the calendar year.
Source: Compiled by Earth Policy Institute from U.S. Department of Agriculture, Production, Supply and Distribution, electronic database at www.fas.usda.gov/psdonline, updated 11 January 2008; corn for ethanol from USDA, Feedgrains Database, electronic database at www.ers.usda.gov/Data/feedgrains, updated 31 December 2007; 2008 estimate based on distilleries under construction from Renewable Fuels Association, "Ethanol Biorefinery Locations" at www.ethanolrfa.org/industry/locations, updated 23 January 2008.