Press Release

Over one billion people have to spend 70% of their budget on food alone

16 October 2008

As people all over the world continue to feel the fallout from the global food price crisis, the British Red Cross is today (16th October 2008) highlighting the impact on conflict-affected communities. Over one billion people living on less than 50p day have to spend 70% or more of their budget on food alone.

Ros Armitage, Conflict Manager at the British Red Cross said: “In developed countries such as the UK, the average person spends around 15 per cent of their income on food. In countries affected by armed conflict, like Afghanistan, as much as 75 per cent of a household’s income will go on food.”

As the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) begins food distributions in the north and north West of Afghanistan it has also warned that hundreds of thousands of Afghans may have to leave their homes this winter because of drought, insecurity and rising food prices.

Leigh Daynes of the British Red Cross travelled to the North of the country: “Across Afghanistan, it is virtually impossible for ordinary people to buy enough food because of soaring prices. It is estimated that there is a 2 million metric ton shortage of food in the country this year. All in all, the combination of conflict, drought and rising food prices means that the wellbeing of every day Afghans is under threat from all sides.”

It is predicted that widespread food insecurity is currently affecting 35 percent of the Afghan population. August 2008 retail prices for wheat are remarkably higher than the five-year average and prices are likely to increase further in the coming months as rural Afghans purchase stocks prior to the arrival of winter.1

The ICRC is working with the Afghan Red Crescent Society to meet the needs of 280,000 people in eight districts of the northern and north-western provinces of Kunduz, Balkh, Faryab and Badghis by distributing about 5,000 metric tonnes (500 truckloads) of food. Afghan Red Crescent Society volunteers will deliver food parcels containing rice, beans, ghee, salt, white sugar and tea to people living in the most affected areas.

Leigh continued: “ Around the world some one billion people living on less than 50 pence per day have to spend almost three quarters of that on food. If you consider that in Afghanistan the price of wheat has more than doubled in some areas, the impact is devastating. Globally there is still enough food to feed everyone. Markets fluctuate but people should never go hungry. “

A report by the Economic Research Service of the USDA (July 2008) found that even before the rapid rise in food prices, some 854 million people worldwide were estimated to be undernourished and it is thought the crisis may drive another 100 million more people into poverty and hunger.