Forţă ONU împotriva foametei

Obligate de creşterea vertiginoasă a preţurilor la alimentele de bază în toată lumea şi, consecutiv, de protestele populaţiilor ameninţate de foamete, Naţiunile Unite au constituit o

Obligate de creşterea vertiginoasă a preţurilor la alimentele de bază în toată lumea şi, consecutiv, de protestele populaţiilor ameninţate de foamete, Naţiunile Unite au constituit o forţă operativă pentru creşterea producţiei.

Formată din şefii agenţiilor Naţiunilor Unite şi din reprezentanţi ai Băncii Mondiale, noua forţă operativă îi va sprijini pe fermierii din ţările sărace care produc mai puţin din cauza costului ridicat al îngrăşămintelor şi al energiei - informează BBC. Fermierii din ţările cele mai afectate de foamete vor primi 200 de milioane de USD pentru a produce mai multă hrană. În plus, Naţiunile Unite vor elabora un program în valoare de 1.7 miliarde de USD pentru a ajuta ţările cu deficit de hrană să cumpere seminţe.

În paralel, ONU a cerut statelor donatoare să-şi majoreze contribuţiile la World Food Programme (WFP), în contextul în care, potrivit estimărilor, 100 de milioane de oameni nu mai au suficientă hrană. Până în prezent, au fost promise doar 62% din cele 755 de milioane USD necesare pentru hrănirea lor şi doar 18 milioane de USD au ajuns la populaţiile-ţintă.

De partea sa, Banca Mondială a anunţat că, în cursul anului următor, va dubla împrumuturile pentru agricultură acordate ţărilor din Africa şi că va lua în calcul o finanţare mai rapidă şi mai flexibilă pentru ţările sărace.

Preşedintele Băncii Mondiale, Robert Zoellick, a îndemnat statele care se confruntă cu propria criză alimentară şi cu creşterea preţurilor la alimente să nu limiteze exporturile pentru a proteja rezervele de hrană. "Aceste limitări ale exporturilor încurajează stocarea, cresc preţurile şi le fac rău celor mai săraci oameni din lume, care se luptă pentru a supravieţui", a explicat Zoellick.

Pentru alte detalii despre aceste subiecte, consultaţi şi :

The Economic Times: A world agricultural bank?

Presently there is no way out for a country which has a shortage of food and cannot supplement the same with imports. The problem is more acute when the product is rare, like pulses which are grown by a few countries. This situation should sow the seeds of the idea of establishing a world agricultural bank (WAB) which can respond appropriately in times of crisis. The food situation today is serious. It is not that countries do not have money to buy food, but the way things are progressing, it may not be far off when there will be shortages throughout the world as production is just not keeping pace with demand. Presently, there may be no reason to panic as the higher prices are a reflection of stable or lower production and depleting stocks (which are still reasonable at the global level).

The Globe and Mail: Condemned by the perversity of tarrifs

In a report this month on the phenomenal increases in cereal prices around the world, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reviewed the emergency measures that different governments have taken "to limit the impact on food consumption. Countries that normally export these foods either capped exports or banned them. India banned almost all rice exports. Vietnam banned them for four months and announced permanent export controls. Cambodia banned them for 60 days. Egypt banned them for the rest of the year. Zambia banned maize exports indefinitely - though it had already stockpiled more than it can use. China imposed export quotas on all grains. With each of these exits from global trade, world prices went higher. Collectively, they represent a form of state-sponsored hoarding.

IHT: Malaysia unveils $ 1 billion plan to increase food production

Malaysia's prime minister on Saturday announced a US$1.29 billion fund to increase food production, including a plan to grow rice on a massive scale in Sarawak state amid fears of shortages caused by the global food crisis. The 4 billion ringgit (US$1.29 billion; €941,000) allocated for the plan will also be used to increase cultivation of fruits and vegetables, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was quoted as saying by the national news agency Bernama.

IHT: Chavez says food prices "massacre" of world's poor

Soaring food prices are a "massacre" of the world's poor and are creating a global nutritional crisis, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday, calling it a sign that capitalism is in decline.His comments came only hours after the United Nations' World Food Program called more expensive food a "silent tsunami" that threatens to plunge more than 100 million people on every continent into hunger.

Stratfor: Placing the terrorist threat to the food supply in perspective

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, there have been many reports issued by various government and civilian sources warning of the possibility that terrorists could target the U.S. food supply. At the most basic level, threats to a country's food supply can come in two general forms: attacks designed to create famine and attacks designed to directly poison people. Attacks designed to create famine would entail the use of some agent intended to kill crops or livestock. Such agents could include pathogens, insects or chemicals.

BBC: LatAm leaders in food price pact

Four Latin American leaders, meeting in Caracas, have agreed on a $100m (£50m) scheme to combat the impact of rising food prices on the region's poor.

IHT: Kremlin wary of soaring food prices

Though typically insulated from public criticism, the Kremlin has been particularly sensitive to the effects that rising food costs might have on the Russian people as the country begins to succumb to a global trend that has sparked street protests by hungry citizens in some countries.As inflation rates approached 12 percent in Russia last year, the government imposed export tariffs and introduced a voluntary price freeze on some staple goods amid fears of public dissatisfaction ahead of recent elections.

ISN: Argentina's international problem

Brazil and Argentina are the world's top producers of soy, after the United States, and Argentina is the world's top wheat producer. Both countries are under increasing pressure to reduce exports to safeguard the economy and the county's own food stuffs. But Argentina is in a very difficult position where the government is at the beginning of what may prove to be a long and nasty process of readjusting food supplies, prices, and the balance between international demand and local needs.