UN summit pledges to ease food crisis

World leaders at a UN summit embraced an ambitious strategy to combat a food crisis that is causing violent riots...

World leaders at a UN summit embraced an ambitious strategy to combat a food crisis that is causing violent riots and threatening to push up to a billion people across the globe into hunger.

Delegates from 181 countries pledged Thursday to reduce trade barriers and boost agricultural production to combat rising food prices, but some nations and groups maintained more concrete measures would be needed.

After three days of wrangling, delegates at the Rome-based UN Food and Agriculture Organization approved a declaration resolving to ease the suffering caused by soaring food prices and step up investment in agriculture.

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Speculation and increased consumption of meat and dairy goods by the populations of China and India is also considered a main factor in the food price hikes. The biofuel issue was a volatile one at the summit. The summit struck a balance on the fuels, which are made from crops such as sugar cane and corn, saying that “in-depth studies” are necessary to ensure that the environmentally friendly energy source does not take food off the table.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon had told the summit that import taxes and export restrictions must also be minimised to alleviate hunger, and the document called for “reducing trade barriers and market-distorting policies”.

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