El Niño blamed for spike in global food prices (Marketplace)

IFPRI General Director Shenggen Fan was interviewed for a Marketplace story on the United Nations’ report that global food prices increased by almost 4% in October. Fan told reporter Annie Baxter that strategic reserves of food can help in the short term, but long-term solutions such as investing in irrigation are necessary. He also released a statement about the report, emphasizing that by investing early, “we can focus on helping the millions of people in every country on the planet who remain hungry and malnourished.”