Brussels, 17/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - The agriculture ministers of the world's eight most heavily industrialised countries (United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Russia) will have the world food crisis and the need for agricultural recovery very much in mind when they meet in Treviso this weekend for the G8 agriculture summit, the first of its kind to be held.
European Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel will also attend the meeting, which will be devoted to drafting a joint strategy to ensure worldwide food security and tackle the issue of the sharply rising cost of agricultural raw materials and basic products, which resulted in the recent food riots in a number of developing countries. G8 agriculture ministers will be joined in this reflection process by their counterparts from the G5 (Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa) and other countries such as Australia, Argentina, Egypt and the Czech Republic. A summary of the discussions will provide the joint statement on food security, which will then be put to heads of state and government at the next G8 summit in Sardinia (isle of Maddalena, 8-10 July 2009). (A.N./transl.rt)