Addressing the Food Price Crisis in Europe and Central Asia (ECA)
Session I
Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Rising Food Prices:  Economic and Poverty Implications

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:

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

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

3.      How are ECA countries responding to these developments?

4.      What can be done (i) to contain inflationary pressures, (ii) to protect the poorest and the most vulnerable, and (iii) to ensure food security?

5.      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.

Webcast and Chat Link:  
http://streaming3.worldbank.org/asxgen/eca/media/gdln/GDLN-PSD-06-24-2008.wmv

World Bank Panel: 
Mr. Asad Alam, Sector Manager, Poverty Reduction & Economic Management, ECA Region
Mr. Holger Kray,Acting Sector Manager, Agriculture & Rural Development, ECA Region
Ms. Kathy Lindert, Sector Manager, Human Development, ECA Region

Presenter: 
Mr. Volodymyr Klymenko, President, Ukrainian Grain Association

Moderator:  
Mr. Gary Fine, Sr. Private Sector Development Specialist, ECA Region

Running Order (Washington time zone):

7:00 -  8:00   
Offline Workshop,  All Sites except Washington)

8:00 –  8:10
Greetings and introductions, Gary Fine

8:10 –  8:40    
Macroeconomic issues and poverty impacts, Asad Alam
Aricultural commodity and food price trends,  Mr. Holger Kray
Social safety nets:  addressing food price rises,  Ms.Kathy Lindert

8:40 – 8:55 
Addressing food price increases:Mr. Volodymyr Klymenko

The experience of Ukraine     

8:55 – 9:45      
Interactive discussion: panel, speaker, sites, Mr. Gary Fine 

9:45 – 10:00
Dialogue on topics to be covered in next sessions, Mr. Asad Alam

Participating Countries

Albania: World Bank Office Tirana 
Azerbaijan: AZRENA National Research Network GDLN* Center
Bosnia: University of Sarajevo GDLN Center; University of Banja Luka GDLN Center
Kazakhstan: World Bank Office Astana
Macedonia: National Library GDLN Center, Skopje
Tajikistan: World Bank Office Dushanbe

Observer Country
Georgia: GRENA National Research Network GDLN Center

* The Global Development Learning Network, or GDLN, is a partnership of independent distance learning   centers worldwide dedicated to promoting development through exchange of knowledge and experience.

Background Reading

A selection of World Bank papers and multimedia presentations relevant to this topic can be found on the Bank’s food price crisis webpage:

http://www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/foodprices/

Speaker Profiles

Mr. Volodymyr Klymenko is the president of the Ukrainian Grain Association, which represents the interests of Ukraine’s grain producers and exporters.   He is also a member of the coordination committee for agriculture policy of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and has been involved in many aspects of the development of the grain market in Ukraine, including serving on various national and international coordinating bodies and participating in the development of export documentation and credit access for Ukrainian farmers.   Mr. Klymenko has also advised projects sponsored by USAID and EBRD to support agrarian policy and regulatory reform.  He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Ukrainian Academy of Technology.

Mr. Asad Alam is a sector manager in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Department in the Europe and Central Asia Region (ECA) of the World Bank.   He has broad-ranging interests in macro-micro-poverty linkages, growth and distribution, structural reform, fiscal policy, trade and gender issues.  Mr. Asad has published on various subjects including regional studies on Growth, Poverty, and Inequality in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (2005) and Unleashing Prosperity: Productivity Growth in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (2008).  He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University and a B.Sc. Econ from The London School of Economics and Political Science.

Mr. Holger Kray is acting sector manager in the Europe and Central Asia Region’s Sustainable Development Department, where he coordinates agriculture-related aspects of regional food price response activities.   He also manages agricultural reform implementation activities in the region and focuses on agricultural policy reform related to EU accession.  Prior to joining the World Bank in 1997, Mr. Kray worked as a financial sector consultant for KPMG Consulting/BearingPoint and as independent policy and strategy consultant to various international organizations.   He holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Kiel University in Germany.

Ms. Kathy Lindert is the sector manager for social protection in the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia Region, covering the areas of social safety nets, labor, and pensions and social insurance.   For the past five years, she was based in the World Bank’s Brazil Office, where she managed the World Bank’s support for Brazil’s Bolsa Familia Program, a conditional cash transfer program serving close to 50 million people. Having joined the World Bank in 1992, Ms. Lindert has also worked in the Bank’s Middle East-North Africa and Latin America and Caribbean Regions.  She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from the University of California at Davis and a B.A. from the American University of Paris.

Mr. Gary Fine is a Senior Private Sector Development Specialist in the Europe and Central Asia Region of the World Bank, where he has been involved in a range of private sector and financial sector development issues, including SME development and microfinance, investment climate reform, corporate governance and competitiveness.  He also serves as the regions’ GDLN coordinator.   Mr. Fine previously served as an adviser to several CIS governments on privatization and other private sector development issues, and spent a number of years as an investment banker and chief financial officer.  He holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University.

Questions for Discussion at Offline Workshops

• What are the particular issues facing your country as a result of the increase in food prices?
• What policy measures do you think your country should/could adopt to address these issues and mitigate the effect of rising fodd prices on the population?