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last update:Jun 5, 2008
UN summit discusses food production
Speaking at a UN-sponsored
summit in Rome, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that world food production would have to
rise by 50% by 2030 to meet growing
demand.
According to the BBC, Mr Ban said the world had a
"historic opportunity to revitalise agriculture".
When first planned one year ago, this summit was going to be about climate
change but with world food prices soaring out of control, it has been hijacked
by events.
The meeting - hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation
(FAO) - attended by more than 60 heads of state and government, has both
short-term and longer-term measures in its
sights.
Goal
The short-term goal is to ensure a flood
of financial assistance to the world's subsistence farmers to ensure they have
enough seeds and fertilisers to guarantee a healthy crop this season.
The
UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) - warned the industrialised
countries that unless they increase yields, eliminate barriers and move food to
where it is needed most, a global catastrophe could
result.
Clashes
Fierce clashes are also predicted
during the conference with conflicts over GM products and biofuels. The US
Secretary for Agriculture Ed Schafer insisted that the steep rise in the use of
maize and other crops for biofuels is only one of many contributing factors in
the increased food prices, whereas others maintain that the biofuels, subsidised
in the US to the tune of 61 cents in the gallon, have contributed as much as
one-third to the rise in food prices worldwide.
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