Call for action over rising food prices
Monday, 14 April 2008 22:14
The World Bank has endorsed a call by its President, Robert Zoellick, for international action to deal with the effects of rapidly rising food prices.
Mr Zoellick said emergency help would be given to a number of countries, including an additional $10m to Haiti where several people were killed in food riots over the weekend.
Executive Director of Oxfam Australia Andrew Hewitt says wealthy nations are not fulfilling their wider aid commitments.
Yesterday, Mr Zoellick said a doubling of food prices over the past three years could push 100m people in poorer developing countries further into poverty.
In a statement at the end of the World Bank spring meeting, he said governments must step in to tackle the issue.
'This is not just a question about short-term needs, as important as those are. This is about ensuring that future generations don't pay a price too,' he said.
Calling on governments to begin tackling the issue, Mr Zoellick said: 'We have to put our money where our mouth is now so that we can put food into hungry mouths. It's as stark as that.'
Meanwhile, the US has announced it is authorising the release of $200m in emergency food aid to help alleviate a growing global food crisis
In a statement the White House said this additional food aid will address the impact of rising commodity prices on US emergency food aid programs, and be used to meet unanticipated food aid needs in Africa and elsewhere.
