Food versus Fuel in the Philippines

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Editorial Note: In recent months almost every country in the world has suffered sharp rises in the prices of basic food. The UN says that world food prices have risen 45 per cent in nine months which puts the 15 per cent rise in bread prices in the UK in some context. Many commentators have attacked Western governments for encouraging the increasing use of crops to provide biofuels as a way of lessening the dependence on imported oil. In May the United Nations' special repporteur on the right to food, Olivier do Schutter, told a French newspaper: 'The ambitious goals for biofuel production set by the United States and the European Union are irresponsible. I am calling for a freeze on all investment in this sector'. This was somewhat less inflammatory language than his predecessor's who denounced the growth in biofuels as 'a crime against humanity'. The problem poses the greatest threat in the developing world. One crop, jatropha, has become particularly popular with governments in these countries: in Burma, the military rulers have ordered that farm land the size of Belgium should be planted with jatropha while in Kenya a new Bio-Diesel …