With financial markets still stinging after the recent meltdown, it’s no wonder that the financial challenges facing agriculture is part of the first session at the World Agricultural Forum going on in St. Louis, Mo.
The RT Hon. James B. Bolger, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Chairman of the World Agricultural Forum, pointed out to the group that the world needs to its food policies. He says we need to get out of the idea that the way out of the current financial crisis is not to get the top 1 percent of income earners to spend so much more but to get the portion of the world’s population earning the least amount… 3 billion people in his estimation… to be able to buy more. He says that will raise all fortunes for everyone.
Bolger offered that we can feed the world, and he put it out to the panelists the question of how we do it. Many of the panelists seem to agree that the real need is for political stability in these poorer areas. Once stability is achieved, then investment, technology and the lifting of millions out of poverty will follow.
I’m going to catch up with some of the panelists individually as we go on, but I wanted to give you an idea what is being discussed here at World Agricultural Forum.
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