High food prices add 50 million people to hunger: FAO

BRUSSELS: The number of hungry people increased by about 50 million in 2007 as a result of high food prices, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) head Jacques Diouf said here Thursday.

“Poor countries are feeling the serious impact of soaring food and energy prices,” Diouf told a conference on food prices in Brussels.

Diouf attributed the food crisis to rising demand for agricultural products due to population growth and economic development in emerging countries; the rapid expansion of biofuels; and insufficient supply as production is negatively affected by climate change, in particular drought and floods, at a time when cereal stocks are at their lowest levels in 30 years.

These trends are exacerbated by restrictive measures taken by some exporting countries to protect their consumers and the speculation of hedge, index and other funds on the futures markets.

High prices of agricultural inputs are a major obstacle for developing countries to increase agricultural production, said Diouf. Xinhua