Afp, Rome, The Daily Star, 05 June 2008

 

World leaders meeting in Rome yesterday focused on the roles of biofuels, trade practices and global warming in the food price crisis that is threatening more hunger, poverty and conflict worldwide.

In talks on Tuesday clouded by controversy focused on the presidents of Zimbabwe and Iran, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for “bold and urgent steps to address the root causes of this global food crisis.”

“We have a historic opportunity to revitalise agriculture,” Ban told some 50 heads of state and government attending the three-day summit of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), adding that food output had to rise 50 percent by 2030 to meet ballooning demand.

With food prices at a 30-year high, the UN chief warned that while the world must “respond immediately,” it must also put the long-term focus on “improving food security.”

Prices have doubled in three years, according to the World Bank, sparking riots in Egypt and Haiti and in many African nations. Brazil, Vietnam, India and Egypt have all imposed food export restrictions.

The world “simply cannot afford to fail” in efforts to address the global food price crisis, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said later at a news conference.

“We simply cannot afford to fail,” Ban said. “Hundreds of millions of people expect no less,” he said, adding: “We are duty bound to act now.”

“We must make the international trade system work more effectively to make food available at reasonable prices,” Ban said.

Bilateral and international donors must reverse “years of neglect of the agricultural sector,” he said, calling for “sustained, intelligent investment in agriculture.”

He added that in the immediate term, “We must find a way to significantly boost the harvest in the next year.”

WORLD BANK CHIEF

World Bank President Robert Zoellick yesterday called for the lifting of trade barriers that contribute to food price inflation and “hurt the poorest people.”

“We need an international call to remove export bans and restrictions,” Zoellick told a news conference at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization summit in Rome.

“These controls encourage hoarding, drive up prices and hurt the poorest people around the world who are struggling to feed themselves,” he said.

“These restrictions and taxes must be lifted at the minimum for humanitarian food purchases and transportation by the WFP,” he said, referring to the World Food Programme, the UN agency that delivers emergency food aid.

“They should be lifted or at least eased for shipments to less developed and fragile countries,” Zoellick said, urging that “the immediate requirements of 20 of the most vulnerable countries (be met) by the time of the G8 summit in early July.”

Zoellick urged “safety net support, school feeding, food for work, maternal and child programmes, conditional cash transfers and budget support” for the countries most in need.

“We need to get seeds, fertilisers and inputs to those developing countries where smallholder farmers can expand production this season,” he added.

$1.5B ISLAMIC BANK SUPPORT FOR FARMING
The Islamic Development Bank will donate 1.5 billion dollars (970 million euros) to support farming in the developing world, the head of the Food and Agricultural Organization announced Wednesday.