Japan to put food crisis on G8 agenda

World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick has welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda’s call for the food crisis to be put on the G8 agenda.

“Soaring food prices and their impact on hunger, malnutrition and development threaten to push 100 million people further into poverty,” says Zoellick.

“Malnutrition threatens to harm not only this generation but the generation to come. This is a test for the international community that we cannot afford to fail. We must make globalization work for all. Nowhere are we seeing this more clearly than in the issue of food where millions are now at risk.”

“Ministers from more than 180 countries meeting at the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings recently endorsed a New Deal for Global Food Policy."

"This will require coordinated action over the short, medium and long-term: immediate support to the World Food Program’s emergency appeal; short and medium term support for safety nets, such as school feeding, food for work and conditional cash transfer programs.”

“Over the medium and long term, support for increased agricultural production, a better understanding of the impact of bio-fuels, and action on the trade front to reduce distorting subsidies and trade barriers.”

“Balance of payments and fiscal issues for countries most severely affected must also be addressed, and we will work closely with the IMF to support this agenda.”

“These short, medium and long-term issues will be a critical part of international action. But let us first raise the money to meet the most immediate needs. The world can afford this. The poor and hungry cannot.”