Food self-sufficiency is bad for food security, says WTO head

By Alex Singleton | 14 April 2005

The Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Supachai Panitchpakdi, yesterday spoke in Rome and pointed out that self-sufficiency in food is bad for security:

No individual can with good conscience turn a blind eye to the suffering of those starving. No civilized society can accept hunger and malnourishment. No government can survive, nor keep law and order, without ensuring that its people enjoy the regular availability of basic foodstuffs. Revolutions have been sparked off by the price of bread. Wars have been fought over food or the resources to produce food. Food security remains undeniably as important today, as in the past.

Today there is, however, the realisation that a sustainable domestic food supply cannot be ensured by each government acting individually. History has repeatedly shown that protectionism and isolation from world markets have never been the right answer. Food self-sufficiency is not equivalent to food security. The goal of self-sufficiency is illusory in today's world where a vast range of inputs constitute the full production equation. Nor is any country insulated from sudden adverse climatic effects which can dramatically reduce domestic agricultural output.