UN Food Security Summit:

Lanka moots Global Food Crisis Fund

ROME: President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday urged the global community to seriously consider the setting up of a Global Food Crisis Fund.

Addressing the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s World Food Summit in Rome, President Rajapaksa said the Fund will have contributions from all countries and from large business organisations that transcend geographical boundaries, and from financial institutions, arms manufacturers and philanthropists of the world, among others.

The mechanics of such a fund will have to be worked out in keeping with the goal of assisting countries faced with serious dangers to food security and also in funding initiatives for greater food production, said the President.

He said that in addition to such a Global Food Crisis Fund, or working together with it, there should be Regional Food Security Funds drawing financial and technology resources within a region to expand food production, improve storage and distribution and also come to the assistance of regional neighbours that may need help in the event of a food crisis as we see emerging today.

President Rajapaksa emphasised that “in the prevailing competition between food and fuel, Sri Lanka is firm in the decision that no land that can be used for food will be used for biofuel whatever the commercial attraction may be. It is our belief that food for the people should have the highest priority, and not the running of gas-guzzling vehicles.”

He said a crisis in food becomes all the more serious as it impacts most severely on the most vulnerable sections of a community, - namely, those living in poverty who constitute around one billion of the world’s population.

“As a global community we need to act fast and take short term emergency measures to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable sections of our people do not go hungry.”

He recalled that warnings of this crisis, although seen, were largely ignored, until it assumed today’s magnitude. It is a crisis that has come from the growing demand for fuel, the failure to act in time on climate change, the ravages of terrorism, and problems of distribution.

“We all know that global food stocks have reached an all time low and prices have escalated to unexpected levels.

Sadly the world is conditioned by forces which are beyond the control of poor countries. From a situation of an excess of food supplies, only a few years ago, we have entered an era of shortages,” he added.

He emphasised that even before the issue of global food security had reached a crisis level, the Government had already launched an integrated drive towards ensuring our country’s food security.

But while we act at national level, we need to recognise the fact that in the highly interconnected world of today the causes of the world’s food crisis have to be confronted at regional and global levels as well, he said.

Related Story: Regional approach to food security essential - President