In the wake of world food grain and energy price increases, food and energy prices grew rapidly in ECA during 2007, contributing significantly to overall growth in inflation. This has raised concerns over how to protect the poor and the vulnerable against rising food and grain prices and how best to ensure food security, and various governments have responded in different ways. Notwithstanding these challenges, the crisis also provides an opportunity to improve incentives for agriculture production, strengthen social safety nets, improve risk mitigation and insurance schemes and strengthen poverty monitoring and evaluation systems.

This first in a series of video conference dialogues on this topic will provide an overview of the issues and policy responses, attempting to address the following questions:

• What are the global and regional factors in supply and demand that explain the rising food prices and how are they affecting ECA countries?


• What are the likely macroeconomic and poverty implications of rising food prices?


• How are ECA countries responding to these developments?
• What can be done (i) to contain inflationary pressures, (ii) to protect the poorest and the most vulnerable, and (iii) to ensure food security?
• How can the World Bank Group help client countries address this situation?

Following brief presentations by a panel of World Bank specialists, an expert from Ukraine will discuss the particular issues facing his country and the policy response undertaken there, and participating sites will have a chance to discuss and contrast to the situation in their own countries.