The Price of Hunger: A Historical Analysis of the Financialisation of the Agri-Food System

The article analyses the role of financialisation in the global agri-food system and its impact on food accessibility and economic inequalities. Since the deregulation of agricultural derivatives markets in the United States in 2000, the massive entry of financial actors has transformed food commodities into speculative assets, exacerbating price volatility and compromising global food security, especially in low-income countries. The study adopts a critical political economy approach that integrates historical analysis with sectoral and territorial investigation, particularly on the wheat market and recent speculative and tariff dynamics. It highlights the urgent need to overcome the predatory logic of profit by promoting alternative models based on food sovereignty, agroecology and distributive justice. The paper proposes an ethical reconfiguration of the food system, centred on the concept of civil food, which values smaller supply chains and restores the central role of local communities in defining a regenerative and sustainable economy.