UN intervention in food crisis

The United Nations has pledged $1.2bn (£613m) of food aid for 75 million people in the 60 nations hardest hit by rising food prices. This was announced at the recently concluded FAO Summit in Rome. The pledge is just one of the many measures being put into place by leading world bodies and nations. Debate is still taking place, however, as to the extent that the use of biofuels is to blame for the current crisis. The US says that only 2-3% of the global food price rises has anything to do with biofuels while the International Food Policy Research Institute says biofuels are behind 30% of the rises. Nevertheless, as we stated yesterday global consensus is building to protect small holder farmers in poor nations and to boost food production in high productivity zones. Food aid will definitely alleviate suffering while other short, medium and long term initiatives take action. Some nations simply need food on the table immediately!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7435265.stm