What’s Going On? What Lessons Have We Learned?

International food prices began to rise sharply in the first quarter of 2011, resulting in a second food price crisis in three years. Rising food inflation in many developing countries and increasing food price volatility have revived concerns about the long-term food security of poor people.

In this seminar, three IFPRI board members will address what happened during the 2011 food price crisis in order to draw out lessons learned, analyze the similarities and differences between the 2011 and 2008 crises, and outline what must be done to prevent a recurrence. All attendees are invited to join in this dialogue. Dr. Kym Anderson, George Gollin Professor of Economics at the University of Adelaide, Australia, will discuss the role of trade policy in reducing food price volatility. Dr. Catherine Kling, professor of economics and head of the Resource and Environmental Policy Division of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University, will discuss large-scale water quality problems, such as those found in the Gulf of Mexico, in relation to the food crises. Dr. Zhu Ling, deputy director of the Institute of Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, will offer an emerging-economy perspective in his discussion of China’s food price volatility. Fawzi Al-Sultan, chair of the IFPRI Board of Trustees, will chair the seminar, Maximo Torero and P.K. Joshi will serve as discussants, and Shenggen Fan, director general of IFPRI, will provide concluding remarks.