Agriculture, Food, Food Aid, Food Prices, Food Shortages - Wednesday, June 4, 2008 0:53 - 0 Comments

U.N. chief: $20B a year to end food crisis

“Countries and donors must spend as much as $20 billion a year if the world is to end the food crisis, the head of the United Nations said Wednesday. Ban Ki-moon spoke to reporters on the second day of a U.N.-organized summit in Rome to deal with food security—a broad term that includes hunger, rising food prices, food production, high oil prices, and climate change.”
“We must not address only the immediate symptoms of the problem—that of soaring food prices,” he said. “We must focus on the underlying causes of the problem: years of neglect of the agricultural sector around the world, and the lack of investment in increasing productivity.”
He called on nations to take four immediate steps:
“Make the international trade system work more effectively so more food is available, and at reasonable prices;
Increase humanitarian aid to cushion the impact of high food prices on vulnerable populations;
Find a way to boost harvests in the next year and continue investment in agriculture over the long run;
Help governments struggling to cope with the food crisis through fiscal support.”
“Substantial new resources will be needed—perhaps as much as $15 to $20 billion a year as our efforts build up,” Ban said.
“The World Food Program said Wednesday it has given an extra $1.2 billion in aid to 62 countries hardest hit by the global food crisis. The U.N. agency is already providing some $5 billion to 90 million people in 78 countries this year.”