Should Farmers in Developing Nations Be Shielded from Volitile Food Prices?

Volatile food prices are making the survival of the small farmer in developing countries nearly impossible. As the developed world weathers the storms of rising food prices through sophisticated commodities markets, smaller operations in Latin America, Asia and Africa are left to the mercy of massive price fluctuations. The World Bank and JP Morgan have come up with a plan to help those small farms in developing countries, by encouraging them to buy insurance in the derivatives market. Javier Blas, commodities editor for the Financial Times, says while some say getting these small farms involved in huge market systems might be risky, developed nations like the U.S. and France have been using similar systems for decades with great success.