No end in sight to high food prices, says UN

In a new report, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said that current high prices will hit the poor and hungry the hardest and called for the urgent mobilisation of humanitarian aid as well as a greater focus on boosting agricultural production in the longer term.      

 

"Coherent action is urgently needed by the international community to deal with the impact of higher prices on the hungry and poor," Director-General of the FAO, Jacques Diouf said.

"Today some 862 million people are suffering from hunger and malnourishment  this highlights the need to re-invest in agriculture. It should be clear now that agriculture needs to be put back onto the development agenda."      

The "transitory nature" of some of the factors behind the recent trend meant that prices would fall in due course from record peaks, the report said pointing to "adverse weather conditions in major grain-producing regions".     

However, there was "no reason to believe that this will not recur over the next few years," it said, adding that commodity prices will continue "substantially above" the levels of the past 10 years.