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James Delingpole

James Delingpole is a writer, journalist and broadcaster who is right about everything. He is the author of numerous fantastically entertaining books including Welcome To Obamaland: I've Seen Your Future And It Doesn't Work,How To Be Right, and the Coward series of WWII adventure novels. His website is www.jamesdelingpole.com.

The real reasons why one billion go hungry: wind farms, biofuels, sustainability…

By James Delingpole Politics Last updated: September 15th, 2010

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A great post from Roger Pielke Jr. (H/T Roddy Campbell)

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has just released a preview of its flagship report The State of Food Insecurity in the World. And guess what?

The preview has some good news: the number of people worldwide in chronic food shortage dropped 10% over the past year to “only” 925 million.

So that’s over 90 million people in the world taken out of starvation in the space of a year. How did this miracle happen?

Here’s what the UN says:

The 2010 lower global hunger number resulted largely from renewed economic growth expected this year — particularly in developing countries — and the drop in food prices since mid-2008.

In other words the UN is – in this rare instance – admitting what some of us say all the time. That economic growth means fewer hungry people.

And why the big spike in hunger in 2009?

According to FAO last year (PDF), one primary reason was the cost of fuel:

Given the increased importance of biofuels and the new linkages between agricultural and energy markets, increased cereal yields, if achieved, may not necessarily continue to lead to lower cereal prices. Because the world energy market is so much larger than the world grain market, grain prices may be determined by oil prices in the energy market as opposed to being determined by grain supply.Thus, higher priced energy means more hungry people.

Yes, it really is that simple. But not so simple, unfortunately, that people like celebrity lion-impersonator Jeremy Irons can understand it. Up above, you’ll see a video he made for the UN’s www.1billionhungry.org campaign. A noble cause. Problem is, it’s being co-ordinated by the very organisation responsible for promulgating global poverty through its misguided climate policies.

Read up on the UN’s Agenda 21. Discover what “sustainability” – the invention of the UN-sponsored Brundtland commission – really means. The UN is ideologically committed to combatting economic growth, not stimulating it.

Tags: Agenda 21, Food and Agriculture Organization, Jeremy Irons,Roger Pielke Jr, Scar, UN