Biofuels Demand Said To Increase Food Prices

Rising demand for fuels made from corn and other crops will contribute to further increases in food prices, director-general of the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute, Joachim von Braun, said.

Demand for plant-based biofuels, driven by government attempts to fight global warming, alone could boost food prices as much as 72% through 2020, Mr. von Braun told reporters in Berlin yesterday. He called for a moratorium on the use of biofuels.

"Biofuels have exacerbated an already difficult situation," Mr. von Braun said. Rising incomes in the developing world and higher oil prices will also contribute to food-price increases, he added.

Mr. von Braun's views diverge from those of world leaders such as Chancellor Merkel of Germany and President da Silva of Brazil, both of whom have said growing affluence and rising demand in the developing world are the main reason for higher food prices. Biofuels are not responsible, they say.

Governments around the world are considering supplementing oil and gasoline with fuel made from crops as a way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. At the same time, prices for staple foods such as rice and wheat have reached records.

A moratorium on the use of crops for fuel is necessary to help stop further price increases and save lives, Mr. von Braun said, whose institute aims to provide "policy solutions that reduce poverty and end hanger and malnutrition," according to its Web site.