War and food

Nova Corcoran

War in Libya? Uprising in the Ivory Coast? Think it’s got nothing to do with you? It might have more of an impact on your food than you think.

Food in times of crisis
In times of crisis food, water and fuel run in short supply. Food supplies are cut off, shops shut, fresh food cannot be stored without power (i.e. refrigerators) and heating food may be impossible. Gathering food and water can be dangerous in the presence of looting, landmines, vigilantes, violence and other hostilities (FAO 2008).

In the Ivory Coast there are reports of meat, fish, petrol and cooking gas running short, with many warehouses closed because of security fears. The Ivory Coast is the world’s largest cocoa producer and prices have hit a four month high this week (BBC News 2011). Threats of a ban on exports for a month in an unstable country added to the rising cost of oil means a rise in cocoa bean prices rise and a rise in the price of your chocolate.

Food in war
Food is one reason that starts and ends wars. As Gian Carol Cirri notes “When people don't have food, they have three options - revolt, migrate, or starve” (Popham 2011). Fires, heavy rains, floods, droughts, tsunamis, cyclones, volcanic ash etc can all impact on food production and distribution as well as man made events such as war and economic or political instability.

What does oil have to do with it?
Expansion of war into oil producing countries means a rise in the cost of oil. The rising price of oil invariably increases food costs. This ranges from the production of fertilizer (you need oil to make it), to transportation costs, to agriculture machinery that needs fuel, to supermarket electric bills (Walsh 2009). War fuels inflation and increases food prices so add this to rising costs of oil and increases go even higher.

What does war mean for our food?
The UK relies heavily on imported foods – just take a look at the destination food labels on food in your shopping basket. If trade routes alter or closes we may find we are without essential foods. Rising food costs may mean some foods become too expensive for us to be able to buy. Just think about chocolate from the cocoa bean for example – if cocoa costs rise in the Ivory Coast how much money are you prepared to pay for a bar of chocolate?