Brussels, 07/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - As the G8 summit in L'Aquila, hosted by Silvio Berlusconi, draws near (8-10 July), the World Food Programme (WFP) urges G8 leaders to adopt a twin-track approach to food security - supporting long-term agricultural production within continued support for immediate hunger assistance. These are precisely the two tracks that the EU is working on and that the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, will be defending in L'Aquila (EUROPE 9935).
“We applaud the G8 focus on food security. We learned a lesson last year when rising food prices caused an epidemic of hunger leading to food riots in more than 30 countries. Without food, people revolt, migrate or die. None of these are acceptable options”, said Josette Sheeran, WFP Executive Director.
In a press release, the WFP points out that, according to the latest figures released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the number of people in the world suffering from hunger should peak at 1.02 billion. With the global economic crisis which compounds the ongoing food price crisis in the developing world, causing loss of jobs, remittances and slowed exports and investment, this number is expected to climb still further. This reverses a four-decade trend where the number of hungry has declined. At the same time, global food aid supplies last year were at a 34 year low and 18% lower than in 2005. Food aid has dropped 35% since 1995.
“We cannot afford to lose a generation to malnutrition, starvation and despair”, said Ms Sheeran, going on to say: “Addressing immediate hunger needs is a critical long-term investment in healthy, stable societies”. Half-way through 2009, the WFP, which is the “safety net for the most vulnerable people in the world” and which depends entirely on voluntary donations, has raised less than one quarter of its 2009 budget of US$6.4 billion. (A.N./transl.jl)