Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development | 7 May 2009 | Excerpt only

The number of malnourished people around the world is estimated to rise to nearly one billion this year as the economic crisis takes its toll on developing countries.

How to ensure food security for the world’s poor both during the current crisis and over the long-term was the subject of a high-level meeting organised jointly by the OECD and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Some of the key questions about food security are answered below:

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Q: What is the OECD’s view of rich food-importing countries buying land in developing countries to secure their own food requirements?

A: This is not a question with a simple black or white answer. The important thing is to what extent the local population will share in any benefits. And there are benefits: foreign investment in developing country agriculture will likely stimulate productivity growth, raise incomes of farm workers, increase foreign exchange earnings and enlarge global food availability.

But there may be costs as well in terms of exploiting fragile lands or displacement of rural populations. These are concerns which need to be considered.