THE ULTIMATE WAKE-UP CALL

Every global crisis presents a golden opportunity for change: for the interntational communities and world governments to re-think about existing policies and priorities. This time around, it is probably not going to be energy and the after-effects of US Subprime that will trigger change – it’s going to be the looming food crisis: one that cannot be solved or elevated by bailouts and fiscal measures.

The food crisis will shake and demolish past efforts to close the gap between the rich and poor, and unravel years of developing aid. It will bestow upon the weak more suffering, create wide-spread social unrests and riots and put mounting pressure on nations, both rich and poor. Left unchecked, it can bring a downfall to the government.

No other crisis will have such devastating effects on national security as this.

It is easy for rich nations to point the finger at emerging economies and continue stock-piling. But if governments of both developed and natural resource-rich countries don’t act fast and put priority on agricultural and sustainable development, shift wasteful and destructive expenditure on defense and work together with developing nations to modernize their agriculture practices and boost production, the pain of the food crisis will come creeping to the doorsteps of the rich very quickly and with crippling effects on their economies.

And, if the world, in particular, rich nations feel that global warming and environment deterioration are issues which are too vague to put serious attention, perhaps, the food crisis will be the appropriate wake-up call to put more attention on sustainable development and the “greening” of planet Earth with crops rather than concrete jungle.