Press Room

High Level Conference on World Food Security: The Challenges of Climate Change and Bio-energy

‘Fertilizers, Feeds and Seeds in World Food Security’ PRIVATE SECTOR FORUM

A statement by Fred Stephens President, International Feed Industry Federation, German Room, FAO, Rome, Italy - Tuesday June 3, 2008 (13:15-14:45)

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Rome (June 3, 2008) - The International Feed Industry Federation [IFIF] is comprised of international associations and corporate entities representing over 80% of the world's commercial feed production.

Obviously, animal feed is a significant consumer of grain; with world feed production estimated to be 900 million tonnes. Approximately 80% of the world's population live on less then US$3000 a year, and income growth tends to be allocated to improving diet ahead of anything else.

The key drivers for meat demand are global population and the rise in per-capita income [GDP] in developing regions. Lennart Bage, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development [IFAD], in a recent statement, summed up well the present and future food outlook: "The challenges of a growing population and rising demand for a richer diet, such as in India and China, will not go away."

It is not surprising then to learn that in recent years China's middle class has grown to about 200 million, close to 15% of its population. China's economy has grown by over 10% in 2006 and in 2007. India's economy has experienced growth of approximately 8.3% in the same time frame. Reports suggest India's middle class has reached 250 million as well, or about 23% of its population according to a recent Doane report. The resulting dietary change in these two countries from starch-rich food to protein-rich chicken, beef and pork has had a major impact on increased feed, thus grain demand and price globally.

IFIF believes the following points are most pertinent to the present and future rising food prices as they relate to meat, milk and eggs.

• Global demand for meat has accelerated over the past several years reflecting population growth and rising GDP that has exceeded historical averages in developing nations. Never in any period have so many people moved out of poverty as over the past five years.
• Land available to agriculture on the other hand has declined from approximately 0.5ha to 0.25ha, challenging our capacity to meet tomorrow's agricultural demand for land-based protein.
• In addition to land-based protein production, meat protein from fish has grown substantially over the past several years. However, wild fish harvesting, due to significant over-fishing in the world’s oceans, appears unsustainable in terms of meeting increased demand. Aquaculture therefore will need to fill this gap and will add additional pressure on the grain market as soybeans is a protein source for aquafeeds.
• Bio-energy demand will continue to compete for grain. However, in the view of IFIF, bio-energy demand has had negligible effect on rising food and grain prices globally and therefore meat prices.
• An important – and less discussed - contributor to rising prices is ‘index commodity speculation’ who’s investment value in commodity futures has risen from US$25 billion to US$260 billion in the past five years contributing to rising commodity prices.

To overcome the challenges to sustainable, abundant and affordable food supply will require attention to specific areas which we summarize as PET – Policy, Education and Technology.

Policy:

Regulations that may present trade barriers to the efficient exchange of food and feed ingredients need to be reviewed on science-based procedures. We would recommend a review of present trade regulations, to ensure that impediments to efficient exchange of food and feed ingredients are eliminated.

Additionally, taxes on food should be reviewed, reduced and eliminated where possible to the benefit of consumers.

Education:

The international animal feed industry will continue to work together in its effort to provide expertise to emerging developing nations. IFIF is determined to implement across the industry, the Codex-negotiated Code on Good Animal Feeding; this will provide a global standard for the industry to efficiently, sustainability and safely contribute to the supply of the incremental animal-source food required.

Technology:

Investments in technological developments in genetics and nutrition, not excluding GMO-technology, need to be increased significantly and their outputs assessed on scientific basis. The resolution of the current global food crisis requires a decisive technological ‘jump’ which can only come about by very substantially increased global and national commitment to agricultural research and development.