The FAO Food Summit, which will be addressed
by President Mahinda Rajapaksa today, is
aimed at forging a common international
response to the food crisis.
The immediate goal of the June 3-5 summit -
-- which is expected to draw 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 fertilizers 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.
Signaling the serious nature of the current
food crisis U.N. 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 U.N. officials.
President Rajapaksa who will emphasize the
importance of food security to reduce
poverty and improve the quality of life of
people in the developing countries, is
expected to urge the need for 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 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.
Remove trade restrictions
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 U.N. task force to
prepare a global plan of action. A 31-page
draft will be presented at the Rome meeting,
outlining a "two-track" strategy, beginning
with short-term measures aimed at "urgently
increasing access to food," expanding safety
nets for the most vulnerable, and taking
steps to help reduce prices of rice, wheat,
corn and other primary staples.
Biofuels debate
While there is agreement among countries on
the need to increase food production, it is
learnt that negotiations over a summit
statement explaining how to do so have
triggered debate over the role of
genetically modified crops, biofuels,
subsidies, trade policy and financing. There
is likely to be a strong debate on how to
finance the new requirements – whether it is
through grants, loans or other financial
instruments, due to the high costs involved.
The issue of biofuels will is causing much
debate. World Bank analysts estimate that
biofuel production has accounted for 65
percent in the rise of world food prices,
while the IMF has concluded that biofuel
production is responsible for a significant
part of the jump in commodity prices.
However, the United States defends the
production of biofuels, using food crops, as
it has saying it has driven down oil
consumption over the past three years. The
Washington Post has quoted US Agriculture
Secretary Ed Schafer, who will lead the US
delegation in Rome stating that: "Increased
biofuels production accounts for only 2 to 3
percent of the overall increase in global
food prices... This is not distorting the
global price of food." He added. "This is
how we're going to create energy
independence in this country. And we urge
others in the face of this rising price
problem with energy to look at alternative
means, one of which certainly is biofuels."
Sri Lanka is expected to be strong in
opposition to the use of agricultural land
used for food crops for the production of
biofuels.
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