Soaring world food prices are pushing 30 million Africans into poverty, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Monday, urging a food crisis summit to act immediately to deliver aid to the countries most at risk.
Zoellick said leaders should send poor farmers seeds and fertilizers and lift the export bans that are helping to drive up prices.
– The message I got from the Africans is that they are tired of talk and want to see action, the World Bank president said in Rome, where emergency talks called by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) began on Tuesday.
The FAO summit will also see lively debate on the impact on food prices of diverting crops to biofuel production.
Zoellick said corn and oilseed-based biofuels clearly competed with food production and required “safety valves”, but Africa could benefit like Brazil from sugar-based biofuel production.
– However it would be unfortunate if that becomes the sole point of debate, because then we would not meet what poor countries tell me they want, which is resources for safety net programs, seeds and fertilizers, and export bans lifted, stated Zoellick.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday called for a 50 percent increase in world food production to confront spiraling world food prices.
– This crisis also presents us with an opportunity to revisit (past policies). While we must respond immediately to high food prices, it is important that our long-term focus is on improving food security, he said.
He noted that rural infrastructure needs should be addressed, along with new financing mechanisms. He further urged a quick resolution of world trade talks and said nations must minimize export restrictions and import tariffs to alleviate the food crisis.
Mr. Ban said a UN task force set up to deal with the crisis was recommending that nations “improve vulnerable peoples access to food and take immediate steps to increase food availability in their communities”.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
