3: Causes and consequences of high food prices

Peter Timmer interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 10 October 2008 Peter Timmer of Stanford University and the Centre for Global Development talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about the causes of high food prices – including the growth of China and India, dollar depreciation, biofuels and speculation – and the consequences – notably the renewed incentives for investment in raising agricultural productivity. The interview was recorded at the headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London in October 2008 following a public discussion meeting on ‘Rising food prices: causes, consequences and remedies’.