FAO Summit opens:

Focus on global food security

The FAO World Food Summit, which was addressed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday, is aimed at forging a common international response to the food crisis.

The immediate goal of the June 3-5 Summit - which is being attended by more than 40 Heads of State - will be to secure a massive flow of assistance to the world’s hungriest people and to ensure that subsistence farmers across the globe will have the seeds and fertilisers they need to plant their crops this season.

The Summit takes place when prices of most food staples have skyrocketed to their highest levels in more than 30 years, threatening to force more than 100 million people into the ranks of the poverty.

The price spike has been triggered by various causes such as rising consumption in China and India, skimpy wheat harvests in Australia, varying weather conditions, speculation in the commodities market and increased use of agricultural land to produce biofuels.

Signalling the serious nature of the current food crisis UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will issue an urgent plea to world leaders at the food summit to immediately suspend trade restrictions, agricultural taxes and other price controls that have helped fuel the highest food prices in 30 years, according to UN officials.

President Rajapaksa who emphasised the importance of food security to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of people in the developing countries, urged regional cooperation in establishing adequate mechanisms to meet the present crisis and prevent the recurrence of such situations.

He is also expected to recommend an FAO monitoring system on food production worldwide with the ability to forecast shortfalls and price fluctuations well in advance, to enable countries and regions to mitigate their adverse effects on the people, and call for a regional approach to food security within a global framework.

The UN Secretary General is seeking to prod more than two dozen nations that have imposed restrictive measures in the current crisis to reverse course, saying their actions have driven prices higher.

The United Nations will also urge the United States and other nations to consider phasing out subsidies for food-based biofuels - such as ethanol - and to hammer out a pact with poor countries that would reduce agricultural tariffs and subsidies that have harmed poor farmers.

Seeking a leadership role for the UN in coordinating the international response to the crisis, the Secretary General will recommend establishing a UN task force to prepare a global plan of action.