A/HRC/12/31* page 5 of global governance to overcome existing fragmentation of efforts; (c) a still incomplete understanding of how to work in certain areas that have an impact on our ability to achieve food security for all; (d) a failure to follow up on commitments, itself a result of a lack of accountability; and (e) the inadequacy of national strategies for the realization of the right to food at the domestic level. In the present report the Rapporteur examines what, on each of these issues, the responses to the global food crisis have taught us; whether we have learned; and what to do with the understanding gained about what needs to be done. II. THE UNFOLDING OF THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS 3. In the face of growing uncertainty about the future market prices of agricultural commodities, we should have worked to increase the resilience of food systems. Instead, it is the crisis that has proven resilient. The dramatic effects of the surge in food prices of 2007/08 are well documented. High food and oil prices in 2007 and 2008 may have led to increasing the number of people living in extreme poverty by between 130 and 150 million.3 Women and children who have special nutritional needs are particularly at risk. As households are forced to consume a less diverse diet, the risk of critical micronutrient deficiencies, such as iron and vitamin A, increases.4 Thus, even though high food prices may be temporary, they could have long-lasting consequences on physical and mental growth if the coping strategies adopted by households cause reductions in the quantity and/or quality of diets at critical stages of child growth or during pregnancy. 4. The prices of agricultural commodities on international markets have dropped since July 2008. They have followed the prices of oil, with which they are traditionally correlated (see graph I below). 3 World Bank, Global Economic Prospects. Commodities at the Crossroads, 2009 (based on evidence available until 30 November 2008), p. 96. 4 Committee on World Food Security, thirty-fourth session, Rome, 14-17 October 2008, agenda item II on assessment of the world food security and nutrition situation, paras. 37-41.