The price of agricultural commodities, combined with the exorbitant increase of oil prices has submitted governments throughout the world to a tense situation, since everyone is aware that too high food prices generate inflation and create discontent in many people… International organizations such as USDA and FAO have been alerting us, for a long time, of the low level of buffer stocks that regulate food prices, but what happens is that whenever the scenario is not favorable, we rather look to the other side.

In fact, we were right in forecasting the world population growth, but we made gigantic mistakes when assessing the growth of income of low income population in emerging countries like India, China and Brazil. In our country, according to data from Dieese, in the period of one year, with the implementation of “Bolsa Escola” ( School Allowance) and “ Bolsa Familia” ( Family Allowance) , the poor strata started to consume more beans and rice, increasing the prices of these two products by 184.80% and 62.50% respectively.

If everything goes well in terms of weather, it will take at least six years for us to replenish our food stocks. In the case of Brazil, we may consider ourselves privileged since we are able to produce everything and in large amounts. Our beef and other meats are superb, we have beans, rice, corn, soybeans, coffee, orange juice, milk, sugar, ethanol, manioc and, as the saying goes, here, whatever you plant will grow.

On the other hand, still based on Dieese´s data, our staple basket increased by 52% in some capitals. Eating became more expensive and it will never go back to the prices we paid in the beginning of this decade. I feel deeply sorry for the African poor population, who have always starved and counted on the support of international organizations which now do not know how to replenish the cash of their donations, since they will have to raise twice as much in order to feed so many famished people.

Behind all this we have a world of speculators that use the gambling at stock exchanges, the economic mechanisms, of gains to make even more money from agricultural commodities, metals and oil, to become even wealthier.

We should remember here that we cannot take anything with us in our coffins, but, reducing the hunger of the world will certainly give us satisfaction and well being that we will be able to take with us in all of our journeys, in any and all spheres we may be. Considering this scenario, we should be alert to the weight of commodities, according to Fipe, and their respective impact on the Brazilian inflation along the last 12 months:

- Chicken: 6%
- Beef: 19%
- Pork: 10.7%
- Soybeans oil: 56.2%
- Corn oil: 31.,8%
- Beans: 168.3%
- B type milk: 22.7%
- Pasta: 17.6%
- Rolls: 16.9%
- Powder Coffee: -7.4%
- Sugar: -21.1%  

Elizabeth Chagas