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UN official: food crisis still real amid financial crisis |
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16:37, October 21, 2008 |
Video: Food crisis: over or forgotten amid financial crisis?
UN official: China's commitment on rural development impressive
WFP expects to expand partnership with China
The fact that the financial crisis has drawn up the world attention does not mean that the food crisis has gone. World leaders busy with addressing the financial crisis should not forget poorest people who are not able to even have a bank account. Helping people in need today will bring opportunities to our society tomorrow.
Those are the message sent by Ms. Anthea Webb, Director of the World Food Program China, in her exclusive interview with People's Daily Online on Oct. 15, one day before the World Food Day.
She said a recent data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) showed that 923 million people are still not sure "where their next meal will come from". WFP, the world's largest humanitarian organization, needs 60 billion USD for this year's program to help 90 million people. The fact that a large amount of money has been spent on rescue plans for the financial market shows that there is enough fund resources.
But she is concerned that those big rescue plans are diverting the attention from people who are struggling with food supply rather than financial books.
Mr. Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, has recently also urged developed countries to honor their commitments to poor countries when they cope with the financial crisis.
Ms. Webb stressed that it is also in the interest of the whole world to help poorest people have a stable livelihood. In a long-term view, they will also become "productive members of the society".
She thinks the reasons for the food crisis are complicated. There is significant change in demand for food. Not only people rely on food, animals need food for feeds to produce milk, meat also. Climate change has lead to change of conditions of growing grain, which has "restricted food supply" in some areas around the world. And grain is used to produce fuel in some cases.
The trade restriction policies is another reason. Ms. Webb believes that the success of Doha round would give farmers in poor countries to have access to markets. However, it was the issue of the agro-products trading that resulted to the failure of the Doha round most recently in July in Geneva.
What WFP is trying to do now, according to Ms. Webb, is to work on an initiative to encourage markets within developing countries. "Even when there is a good harvest in the north, the south still have no enough food", said Ms. Webb. That has to be changed. WFP's policy of buying food in developing countries will give farmers in poor countries more incentives of growing grain when there is market for them.
By People's Daily Online
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