Multilateral Responses to the Global Food Crisis

Abstract

Skyrocketing food prices in 2007 and 2008 have produced social and political unrest in manydeveloping countries and threaten to precipitate an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Thisreview looks at the present food crisis through the analytical lenses of international politicaleconomy and global governance. I argue that the study of the food crisis is enhanced by contextualizingthe crisis within broader processes of globalization. The review is divided into threeparts. The first section examines the magnitude of the current food crisis and clarifies what ismeant by the term ‘global food crisis'. The second section reviews the policy measures implementedin response to the crisis, focusing particularly on the multilateral level. The third sectionexamines two vital elements of the multilateral response, emergency food aid and establishing aninternational agreement on biofuels, and identifies key obstacles to their efficacy.