UN Chief reiterates emergency of addressing food issues

UN: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated the urgent need of tackling the soaring food prices and low food stocks when he addressed the high-level segment of the 12th session of the UN Conference on Trade and Investment (UNCTAD).

"I have been especially troubled by incidents of food riots, here in Africa and around the world," he said.

Ban urged the participants to the high-level segment attended by UNCTAD chief Supachai Panitchpakdi and heads of state and government including presidents of Ghana, Brazil, Finland, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, to consider bold measures to guarantee affordable food to even the poorest of the poor.

Ban highlighted the threat of high food prices on achieving the Millennium Development Goals aimed to fundamentally reduce poverty.

"We need a substantial increase in expenditures on agriculture, " he said, urging all countries, especially developed countries, to do more in reducing trade-distorting subsidies and tariffs on agricultural products.

His appeal came just one day after he highlighted the food issues at the UNCTAD opening.

According to World Bank statistics, increases in global wheat prices reached 181 percent over the 36 months leading up to February 2008, and overall global food prices increased by 83 percent.

Food crop prices are expected to remain high in 2008 and 2009 and then begin to decline, but they are likely to remain well above the 2004 levels through 2015 for most food crops.

Meanwhile, global food stocks have dropped to the lowest level since 1980.

The soaring food prices have sparked protests and riots in countries including Egypt, Haiti, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and South Africa.

Tuesday, Xinhua