The year 2008 marked two of the biggest crises in recent history: the food crisis at the beginning of the year, and the financial crisis at the end. The crises have hit different segments of society. The main victims of the former were the poor, even the poorest of the poor, living in low-income countries, whereas the initial casualties of the latter were relatively affluent income groups in the developed world. Nevertheless, in the era of increasing economic globalisation, the secondary and long-term impacts of both crises affect millions of people around the world.

This book deals with the food crisis, while the financial meltdown is still unfolding. At the time it was drafted, just after the World Trade Forum in September 2008, food and oil prices had started to fall, and they were still on a sharp downslide by the end of the year. Yet it remains to be seen whether the financial crisis will mutate into a real cyclone for the developing world, right down to the level of subsistence farming. The analysis of the possible implications of such a development goes beyond the scope of this book. However, if the projections presented in this book are accurate we argue that – regardless of cyclical factors – the end of the secular trend of declining food prices has come.