Farm Aid And Fair Trade Key To Food Crisis – UN

 “Increased aid for agriculture and the abolition of rich-nation subsidies are key to finding a long-term solution to rising world food prices, the head of the UN Conference on Trade and Development said on Saturday. …

Supachai Panitchpakdi said a disproportionate amount of aid had been spent on governance initiatives in the developing world in recent decades while agriculture had been neglected, leaving some poor countries which were once net food exporters reliant on expensive imports.

Panitchpakdi said that between 2003 and 2005, $1.3 billion of development aid was spent on governance initiatives in the world's poorest countries, compared with just $12 million on agricultural development, which he described as ‘more than disproportionate’. …” [Reuters (04/19)/Factiva]

The Guardian notes that UN Secretary-General “…Ban Ki-moon told a trade and development conference in Accra, Ghana, that the surge in prices of basic foodstuffs like cereals since last year could cancel out progress made towards meeting the UN's Millennium Development goal of halving world poverty by 2015. ‘If not handled properly, this crisis could result in a cascade of others . . . and become a multidimensional problem affecting economic growth, social progress and even political security around the world,’ Ban told the conference. …” [The Guardian (04/21)/Factiva]

 Reuters adds that “… ‘I will immediately establish a high-powered task force comprised of eminent experts and leading authorities to address this issue,’ Ban said, after a group of the world's 49 least developed countries called on Saturday for such a team. …

 Ghanaian President John Kufuor expressed hope the conference would allow developing countries to strengthen economic cooperation and trade, and increase pressure on rich countries to end agricultural subsidies which worsened poverty in Africa. …

 Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva joined both Ban and Kufuor in appealing to all countries to wrap up negotiations for a global trade pact intended to boost the world economy and promote development. …” [Reuters (04/20)/Factiva]