United Nations: The three-day World Food
Summit organised by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation
(FAO) in Rome ended without nations making any specific
pledges to help the world's poorest farmers.
"To my regret the official declaration adopted by the
Summit this past Monday contains neither measurable targets
nor specific deadlines which would have made it easier to
monitor implementation," Jacques Diouf, chief of FAO said.
FAO finds that directly or indirectly, agriculture
provides the livelihood for 70 per cent of the world's poor.
The Summit was convened to build political momentum to
increase investment in agriculture.
The FAO had proposed setting a timeline for the total
eradication of hunger by 2025, and increasing assistance to
USD 44 billion annually in agricultural development aid.
"It is a small amount if we consider the USD 365
billion of agriculture producer support in OECD countries in
2007, and if we consider the USD 1,340 billion of military
expenditures by the world in the same year," Diouf said.
Over 60 heads of state and government and 191
ministers from 182 countries attended the Summit in Rome.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, November 19, 2009, 13:21