Another food post

Andrew Leonard summarizes some of his recent discussions on the current food crisis in the postThe Washington food crisis consensus. One point that was ignored was the one pointed out by Madhukar Shukla. Andrew Leonard concludes:
"It's not the whole story -- just as biofuels, or changing diets in China, or low interest rates, aren't, by themselves, the whole story. It may even turn out that high commodity prices, in the long run, are exactly the incentive poor developing nations need to kickstart their agricultural sectors into productivity. But getting to that point without millions of people starving is going to be a struggle."
P.S. More from Andrew Leonard: Where has all the rice gone?. The good news is that "Chief Executive Officer of China-Africa Development Fund says about 5 billion United States dollars have been earmarked for the production of food and cash crops in Liberia and other African countries over a 50-year period." The bad news is that China is trying to supply arms to Mugabe.
Discussion of Esther Duflo'sFood prices: The need for insurance.
Facts and figures from BBC.