GENEVA (ILO NEWS) –The price of three major food grains - rice, wheat and maize - suffered a sharp increase between 2007 and the first half of 2008, affecting budget deficits, trade balances, inflation and even provoking panic and social unrest in many countries. Prices started to decline in the closing months of 2008 as the global financial crisis evolved into a full blown recession, but they remain substantially higher than in previous years.
Together with other UN agencies, the ILO held a two-day workshop on 5-6 March 2009 on the global food crisis and its impact on decent work. The meeting recommended measures to achieve global food security and to involve networks of employers and workers organizations in the development and delivery of national plans to do so. ILO will be working in partnership with the UN High Level Task Force on the Food Security Crisis to ensure that Decent Work is an integral part of the global response.