Nations that can feed themselves will continue to do so even if there is unmet demand elsewhere, because ultimately food is more important to survival than money. The value of money for survival, after all, is dependent on the ability to exchange that money for the means of survival. During the food price run-up in the spring of 2008 many nations restricted trade in key foodstuffs, a trend that is likely to escalate in the face of rapidly increasing demand.
Agribusiness
In Monsanto's 2009 Annual Report the company points out that a farmer today must feed 130 people, whereas 30 years ago a farmer only fed 25 people. The company's mission, therefore, is predicated on increasing the yield of agricultural land in order to help meet the needs of a growing population. Innovation is at the core of this strategy to improve yields (Monsanto 2009 Annual Report). There is a tacit recognition in this strategy that demand is beyond our control, so we as a species must work to increase supply. There are risks inherent with Monsanto's innovations, of course, but agribusiness does offer the hope of increased yields and with it the ability to feed the world's growing population.
Imperialism and Neo-Colonialism
The application of the comparative advantage model of trade on the world can be viewed as an act of imperialism. The concept may be universally true but its application is rooted squarely in Western thought. The modern global trading system was designed by Western nations and it, more or less, serves to meet the needs of Western nations. The food price shock impacts illustrate this -- we see it as a source of inflation while the world's poor see it as a threat to life. In times of food shortage, we can still afford food. Moreover, many Western nations have done a better job of protecting their food supplies than the developing world. This has occurred because weak governments in the developing world have had little impact on global trade policy and have little power over the actions taken by multinationals on their soil due to rampant corruption. Ultimately, the solutions proposed for hunger in the developing world are those proposed by agribusiness and bodies rooted in Western thought such...
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He made a lot of points, but neglected to tie them all together and bring them to his conclusion. Further, he recognizes many things about the new economic world order than Altman fails to address, but he omits consideration of the long-term impacts. He rests his conclusion on what he believes is the self-evident conclusion that promoting free trade is a winning policy. What I would have liked is
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