World leaders ignored FAO warning on global food crisis: Diouf

from AFP

PRETORIA (AFP) — UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) chief Jacques Diouf Thursday said world leaders had ignored warnings on the current food crisis and rising costs.

"No one can say that we did not inform well ahead of time. Everybody was informed. But as usual, unfortunately, it is a general trend in the world: we react when the crisis is already here," Diouf told a news conference.

"Before a crisis, you can say everything, people will listen to you but they won't act," said Diouf, who is on a one-day visit to South Africa.

The FAO had in 1996 and 2002 convened world food summits, each attended by more than 100 heads of state, to draw attention to food security, he said.

"What lacked was the political will and the resources through the political will. So they were informed. In September (last year), I announced that there will be crisis of social and political nature...food price rise."

At the 1996 food summit, 112 heads of state and government and 185 countries decided that before 2015 they would cut the number of hungry people by half.

"We looked at the trends...and we realised that instead of investments into agriculture increasing, they were decreasing and we indicated that if the trends were maintained, we would achieve the goal not in 2015 but 2150," he said.

The global population is expected to grow from six billion to nine billion by 2050, a situation which will impact on food demand.

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