Nestle chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe has attributed the global food crisis to “poor judgement” and “irresponsible decisions” made by policy makers around the world.

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Speaking at an event sponsored by the Foreign Policy Association on Wednesday (1 October), Brabeck-Letmathe said the global food shortage has escalated into a “crisis” and told attendees what can be done to improve “our collective ability to feed the world”.


With global food riots erupting and the price of basic commodities doubling in the last few years, the poorest countries are being hit the hardest.


Brabeck-Letmathe focused on four major issues; protectionism, lower agricultural productivity, the expanding use of biofuels, and the over-exploitation of water.


He offered some solutions to alleviate the crisis and challenged the governments of the world to come up with “better solutions”.

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Appointed Nestle CEO in 1997 and chairman in 2005, Brabeck-Letmathe brought up the link between biofuels and the over-consumption of water.


He said it takes “up to 9,000 litres of water to grow enough soy for one litre of biodiesel, and up to 4,000 litres to grow enough corn for one litre of bioethanol”.


“I am convinced that if we continue on this path, we will run out of water long before we run out of fuel,” Brabeck-Letmathe said. “This water problem is solvable, but all our efforts and those of other companies and consumers will be in vain if governments throughout the world continue with their short-sighted policies instead of working toward solutions. It requires better policies and more reasonable pricing.”