Malcolm Fleming: Action needed to fix broken food system

Today, Oxfam is launching its biggest and most ambitious campaign, Grow, in 45 countries. We are known for our work to alleviate hunger and famine, but for every day for four years we aim to campaign to fix the broken food system which leaves almost one billion people – that's one in seven worldwide – without enough to eat.

We are facing the first global food crisis. After decades of steady progress in the fight against hunger, we have slipped into reverse gear. The world population continues to grow, but our ability to feed everyone isn't keeping up. Research commissioned by Oxfam warns that the average international price of key crops, such as maize, will more than double over the next 20 years, a situation made worse by the extra floods and droughts climate change continues to bring.

That sounds bad enough, but when you consider that many poor people spend as much as 80 per cent of their income on food, it becomes downright catastrophic.

The irony is that the majority of hungry people live in rural areas. However, small farmers, and women especially, are left unsupported. Their land is being taken away from them to grow grains used for biofuels instead of food, governmental welfare systems don't work if they exist at all, and only 7 per cent of overseas aid is spent on agriculture, down from more than 20 per cent in 1983.

Oxfam is calling for three big changes. When the G20 countries meet in November, they should agree new rules to govern food markets so that everyone has enough to eat. Second, greater investment is needed in small farmers – especially women – who have great potential to grow more food if supported properly. Third, politicians must use the next United Nations climate change summit in December to get the global climate fund – agreed at last year's summit in Cancun – up and running.

If action is not taken, millions more families will be pushed into chronic hunger. Who wants to live in a world where people riot because they can't afford a loaf of bread?

• Malcolm Fleming is campaigns manager for Oxfam Scotland