One Crisis May Hide Another: Food Price Crisis Masked Deadly Child Malnutrition

In April 2008, when riots in many places brought into sharp relief the impact soaring food prices had on disadvantaged communities around the world, UN Secretary-  General Ban Ki-moon established a Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis composed of the heads of the United Nations specialised agencies, funds and programmes, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB).1 In July 2008, this Task Force released an Action Plan, the Comprehensive Framework for Action. This roadmap contains specific strategies to address both “Immediate Needs” of people facing life-threatening or debilitating food deficits as well as “Long-Term”
change to end the vicious cycle of food insecurity. Six months on, it is not clear what real progress has been made.