public discussion on food prices

Rising food prices: causes, consequences and remedies

Public Discussion at EBRD Headquarters, 3 October 2008

After decades of stability, prices of food commodities increased 130 per cent from January 2002 to July 2008. These increases have attracted significant attention in the media and in policy circles: they have led to significant and immediate setbacks to poverty reduction, social stability and inflation, as well as medium-term concerns about economic growth in many developing countries.

A discussion panel chaired by EBRD’s chief economist Erik Berglöf, brings together four leading specialists to discuss causes, consequences, and possible policy and market responses to the increase in food prices. Michael Kremer of Harvard University, Nora Lustig of George Washington University, Peter Timmer of Stanford University and Gilles Mettetal, EBRD's Director for Agribusiness will speak at this event, organised by the EBRD and the Centre for Economic Policy Research.

• What are the appropriate policy responses by developing countries, developed countries, and international institutions?
  
  
• To what extent should developing country governments allow the changes in world food commodities prices to be passed through to domestic prices?
  
  
• Can international institutions design trading rules that avoid this problem, while still insulating the world’s poor from fluctuations in food prices?
  
  
• Can they encourage market participants to invest in efficiency improvements in the agricultural value chain and raise productivity growth in primary agriculture?
  
  
• These are some of the questions that will be answered during the discussion.

This event takes place at the EBRD headquarters in London on 3 October 2008. It will begin at 12:00 and end at 13:30, with a 60-minute presentation and 30 minutes of discussion.

If you would like to attend this meeting, you must register by Tuesday, 30 September at www.cepr.org/meets/ltm/774 or contact Nadine Clarke at CEPR, by email: nclarke@cepr.org or telephone +44 (0)20 7183 8808.

• Moderator and speakers
  
  
• Audio  51K Bandwidth | Running time: 1 hour 33 minutes
  Video (172Mb)
  EBRD’s Chief Economist Erik Berglöf chairs a public discussion on food prices at the Bank's Headquarters in London.
  
  
• Rising food prices podcast: Part I | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
  
  
• Presentations
  
  
• Agribusiness factsheet  (0.5Mb)
  
  
• About EBRD and agribusiness
  
  
• Photo story
  
  
• EBRD location map