>> hello and welcome to global 3000. food prices are soaring yet again. today we're going to look at why this is happening right now, and what needs to happen to change it. here's what we have coming up -- filling the rice bowl -- madagascar tests new crop- growing methods. energy on tap -- hydro-electric dams in turkey that don't ruin the landscape. and a liter of light -- how a simple idea is changing lives in the philippines. already in 2012, prices for

staple grains have climbed by around 50%. that's bad news for all of us consumers, and a reason for great concern in the poorest parts of the world. the un's food agency is already warning of more famines on the way, as the third major price hike in five years begins to bite. the main reason for the current climb is that three of the world's largest wheat exporters -- america, russia and australia -- are suffering simultaneous droughts. but that's not the only factor that drives volatility on food markets. we looked at the reasons why rising prices can start to spin out of control. >> grain has always glowed gold -- and these days, it's worth almost as much. this year has seen food prices soar. between june and september of this year, the price of corn

suged 50%, while the price of wheat jumped 45% and soy 40%. what's behind these dramatic price hikes? it all began with a drought. in the us, the world's top corn producer, scorching sunshine withered the nation's crops. this had far-reaching consequences. >> when corn prices rise steeply, as has been the case in the past three months owing to the drought, the price of wheat jumps as well. because then wheat -- our bread grain -- is used as animal feed. everything is closely connected. >> not all the grain that's harvested worldwide is earmarked for human consumption. much of it is used as animal

feed. the growing number of people eating meat means more livestock has to be raised. the result is a growing demand for animal feed. it takes 10 kilograms of grain to produce a kilogram of beef; five kilograms of grain for one kilogram of pork and 2.5 kilograms of grain for a kilogram of poultry. over 40% of the worldwide harvest becomes livestock feed. grain has other uses, too. for car drivers, biofuel made from grain is an increasingly popular alternative to gasoline. in the us and germany, there are even laws in place requiring refiners to blend renewable fuels into the gas supply. the aim is to ease global dependency on oil and protect the environment.

increasingly, farmers are therefore growing crops for fuel rather than food -- because it's more lucrative. this development is particularly acute in the us. almost 40% of the corn harvest is used for fuel. 37% becomes animal feed. that leaves just 11% for food, while 13% is exported. the german world hunger organization is alarmed. >> obviously demand for biofuel -- which has political support -- is one of the main causes of the shortage of agricultural goods. more than 8% of the world grain production is used to make bio ethanol. it puts the agricultural sector under enormous pressure and leads to price hikes. >> poor countries are especially hard hit. because they lack their own

resources, they are forced to import grain. but prices are increasingly prohibitive. >> for people living off the equivalent of one euro a day and spending 50 to 60 cents on food staples, the inevitable result is hunger. >> the slightest jump in food prices affects more than one billion people -- that's one in seven. banks have come under fire for food speculation. farmers and wholesalers trade their wares on commodity futures exchanges in standardized contracts. but in recent years, the presence of financial investors in these markets has grown rapidly. deregulation has allowed these speculators to dominate the markets and make a killing, triggering drastic spikes and crashes in prices. bets on the price of staple foods more than doubled between 2008 and 2011. last year they totaled 79

billion euros. >> increased speculation, as a result both of the financial crisis and food shortages, has sent food prices soaring. there is also more food price volatility. we commissioned a study that showed that up to 15% of price hikes are due to speculation. >> factors contributing to price hikes include -- extreme weather, growing demand for livestock feed and biofuel, and speculation. demand for grain shows no signs of abating. the world population is growing -- and it needs to be fed. >> the european union has reacted by announcing it will revise its plans for investing in biofuels, partly because of the competition they pose to food production. globally, arable land is growing scarcer, while the world population is set to rise from

currently seven to an estimated nine billion by 2050. rice will be central to feeding all of these people. it's already the staple food for half of the human race. madagascar has the highest per capita consumption of rice per year. but eroded soils and poor farming practices have taken a toll there. previously a rice exporter, madagascar is now dependent on imports. in a bid to change this, the country is pioneering new growing methods that promise greater yields. the island of madagascar might have a tropical climate but it sees very varied rainfall. there's rainforest on the east coast and dry savannah in the southwest -- and inland, there are coffee and vanilla plantations. but mainly, there are rice fields. 71-year-old farmer abenine razanamamy is a widow. she's completely self-sufficient

because her small field produces enough for her to live on. a few years ago, she switched to what's called the system of rice intensification, a method aimed at increasing rice yields. >> my rice field is about half a hectare in size. i know that's not very big but the yield is very good. it's got even better since i introduced sri. i can produce as much as farmers with one or two hectares. >> sri is a local invention. it was developed here in the 1980s by henri de laulanié, a french agronomist. it's based on a less-is-more principle. the number of seedlings transplanted with sri is only one-tenth as many as with conventional planting.

the rice plants are planted not in clumps, as in other methods, but singly, giving them more room to grow. and rather than flooding their fields, farmers merely keep them moist. they eliminate weeds with a mechanical weeder, called a rotating hoe, which digs up weeds at the same time that it puts more air into the soil for the roots to use, thereby increasing yield. no hybrid seeds, chemical weedkiller or fertilizer are used at any stage. sri increases yield per hectare by 50 to 100%. expertise is handed on from farmer to farmer -- across the country and even beyond it. farmers as far away as china are experimenting with the malagasy example. >> i'm very happy because i have really profited from what i've learned. so why not teach it to others? no one here grows rice in the traditional way any more. everyone uses this method now.

>> the system is now so well- established that scientists at reading university in england estimate that five million small farmers worldwide are using sri. but higher yields don't automatically mean more sustainability. in fact, agriculture is a major contributor to the greenhouse gases we produce. globally, it's responsible for around a third of human-induced co2 emissions, and about half of the released methane. until now, getting more out of the soil has often meant pumping more into the air. truly green farming needs to break this cycle. here's how it could work -- >> an enormous amount of carbon is stored in soil, so when land is farmed, greenhouse gases are released. greenhouse gases are also released when forests are converted into land for grazing or crop cultivation.

and when artificial fertilizer is spread on the fields, it releases nitrous oxide. this is 300 times more harmful than carbon dioxide. then there's the diesel used by tractors and mowing machines. cooling systems and transport also take an environmental toll. according to experts, the agricultural sector could theoretically save some six billion tons of co2 a year. so what exactly can farmers do to protect the climate? farmers can plant trees on part of their fields. these improve soil and that means farmers need to use less fertilizer. every tree that's planted absorbs co2, and that makes them good for the environment, and good for farmers. farmers who grow corn in one part of their fields, wheat on another and beans on another can rotate the different crops on the same land from year to year.

this helps stop the loss of water and soil nutrients and again, it means farmers don't have to use as much fertilizer. if farmers plow shallow furrows, then the humus layer remains stable. humus is another valuable carbon sink. the more farmers adopt these practices, the more fertile their soil will remain. modifying agricultural practices is now a recognized method of carbon sequestration. >> besides food, energy is also essential for development. turkey has a history of large- scale hydro-electric projects that have proved controversial because of their impact on nature. currently, hydroelectric dams are meeting around 30% of the country's power needs, but at a significant cost to the environment. where the tigris and euphrates rivers converge, engineers are therefore working on

alternatives. the two rivers once provided the basis for the wealth and glory of ancient mesopotamia. now turkish entrepreneurs want to turn them into the energy sources of the future. >> the historic city of diyarbakir is located on the banks of the tigris river. its ancient city wall was built by the romans. traditions are observed in this part of southeastern turkey. today there's been a power cut. electricity shortages are a turkish tradition, too. residents of diyarbakir, like restaurant owner ahmed yasar, are used to the power cuts. but that doesn't make them any less annoying. several times a month, he can't even get the restaurant stove going. sometimes there's no power for hours.

>> life comes to a standstill whenever there's a power cut. you can't get anything done, the ovens don't work, nor does the air conditioning, nothing does. we all suffer. >> in the area around diyarbakir, elvan güven is doing what she can to remedy the situation. she works for a company that specializes in renewable energy. her father worked in the same sector. an engineer, he helped build this dam in the nearby river euphrates in the early 1970s. it was controversial at the time, with some 25,000 people losing their homes in order to make way for the ambitious project. elvan güven's vision is less ambitious -- but more environmentally friendly. over tea on the banks of the euphrates, she tries to drum up

support from potential sponsors for new hydroelectric power plants. it's no easy task. she stresses that new facilities must stick to environmental standards and the interests of residents must also be protected. the tricky part is convincing backers that they will also make a profit. >> it's like pulling teeth, but we agree, i mean they are trying to choose the best project, less risked, so they are trying to understand. we fill many, many form pages of files and files. we have to document every single dollar, where we're spending, how we're spending, when we're spending. they were monitoring everything. >> ms. güven's projects require long- term credit, and i'm talking 30 years. that's not the sort of thing that turkish banks tend to do,

but we're going to get on board, with backing from the german government-owned kfw development bank, which is lending us money with low interest rates and which we're then going to pass on. >> those low interest rates are possible thanks to the german government's international climate initiative. it helps finance environmental projects all over the world. thanks to that support, elvan güven's company was able to invest 10 million dollars in the new deresi dam. it's very modest -- the reservoir looks more like a swimming pool. >> this is the exit of the water channel, which is 1.7 kilometers. we carry the water with its own the water at the headpond and- fill our pen stock with water,p6

meters below. >> so there is no big lake needed? >> there is no big lake needed for this project, we didn't have to cut any trees, nobody has to be moved from their houses. it's a very compact project. >> the water from the pipes powers a generator that produces enough electricity to supply a small town. thirteen people have found work in the new hydroelectric plant. but what do residents think of it? a nearby village is the home of souvenir seller kemal yavuz. he's grown up in the shadow of hydroelectric plants and he's all too familiar with their downsides. even so, he doesn't disapprove of the deresi dam. >> the big dam is disastrous.

but i can't say the same of the small one. it hasn't had much impact on our lives. unlike with the big dam, the small one's power lines don't affect the health of the people who live here. animals and nature are unaffected too. >> back in the city of diyarbakir on the tigris river. restaurant owner ahmed yasar welcomes every additional kilowatt hour of electricity. but just to be on the safe side, he's bought a second-hand diesel generator for emergencies. >> the fact is that 30% of electricity gets lost on its way from the dams. that's because the power lines are dilapidated and the transformer stations don't work. they aren't serviced properly. their maintenance is shoddy.

that's why so much electricity is wasted. >> turkey needs to keep investing in its infrastructure if it wants to rely more on hydropower. it should be able to. the euphrates is just one of many mighty rivers in the country. >> while these projects are promising for the future, millions of people need a quick fix to get access to the most basic resources now. some 1.3 billion people currently have no access to power. most of them live in subsaharan africa and southern asia. and they can't wait for large infrastructure projects to kick in. in the philippines, we went to meet a man who believes in a simple and yet effective way to bring light into the homes of those who can't afford electricity. he calls his initiative a liter of light -- and that's exactly what he hopes to deliver to a million homes around the world. >> there's a lot of hammering and chiseling happening on the

roofs of manila. noemi velasco and her children look a bit skeptical, but they're eagerly awaiting the moment when a bottle is inserted through the hole in their corrugated iron roof. >> it costs 2,400 pesos a month for electricity. that's more than we can afford. we can't afford lamps. so it's always been very dark in our hut. >> a plastic bottle filled with water and a dash of bleach -- is that really all it takes to transform the lives of thousands of filipinos? illac diaz thinks it is. when the sun shines on it, light from above is refracted through the liquid into the gloom below. the solar bottles are easy to install and are cost- and energy-efficient. diaz has come up with a smart solution that's perfect for the slums of manila. people here live hand-to-mouth,

working as day laborers, kitchen helpers and refuse collectors. most inhabitants live in shacks without power connections, and those who do have power can't actually afford to pay the electricity bills. these are the people whom illac diaz wants to help. the technology was developed by students at harvard, but it was illac diaz who realized its revolutionary potential and set out to convince the authorities in manila it was worth supporting. >> it took me a week to make the appointment and when she saw what i was showing -- not a solar panel, nothing high-tech, it didn't come with an instruction manual or in a box -- she thought i was insane. especially because it did not light. >> illac diaz has since won over thousands of people to his cause. even the philippine army follows his orders. he used to be a model and an actor.

he's famous in the philippines. and he's a man who's reinvented himself, a visionary with the gift of persuasion. generals, business moguls, even a beauty queen -- in recent months they've all promoted diaz's project and helped to assemble the bottles. today they're going to be distributed among the public. the green revolution has even reached makati city jail. prisoners here are also helping make the solar bottles. many used to be gang members, pand are doing time for robbery and assault. now they're waiting for their hearings -- some of them, for up to four years. they're the only ones who can actually make a bit of money producing bottles for diaz. >> i feel very alone here. but making the bottles helps the time go by. i get to hang out with other people and i earn some money.

i can even save something for when i get out. >> this way, the liter of light project benefits even prison inmates. they make eight pesos per bottle. if they produce 15 a day, they've earned the equivalent of three euros. prisoners aren't usually given hammers and screwdrivers. but illac diaz even managed to win over the prison director. >> it's important that the people here have something to do. then they don't get any stupid ideas. we've got a few extra guards on duty to be on the safe side. they're at all four corners, keeping an eye on the prisoners. >> the bottles made in jail are also being handed out today. these armies of cyclists are here to help. illac diaz hopes that 1 million bottles will have been distributed by the end of the year, and not just in the

philippines. his solar bottles will soon be bringing light to huts in columbia, indonesia, india and south africa. >> i think this is the biggest revolution to improve the standard of life in the smallest way. sometimes the smallest things mean the biggest improvements in filipino quality of life, and maybe the world. >> another life is about the be transformed. her new solar bottle means that noemi velasco will now use 75% less electricity. now she'll be able to spend more money on food and her children's schooling. >> it used to be really dark in our home. now it's lovely and light. maybe we should install a few more bottles. >> the bleach keeps the water

free of germs and one solar lamp can keep working for two years -- though obviously only during the day. it's a rudimentary idea, but one that's hugely effective. >> what a great idea! and if you also have groundbreaking ideas you would like to share, or simply want to let us know what you think, just visit us on facebook. that's the easy way to engage with the global 3000 team, and our other viewers all over the world. that's all we have time for now. from me and the entire team here in berlin, bye bye and have a good week! captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--