Ban lays out steps to save billions from hunger at UN Food Summit

(Nov.17,2009): United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon at the opening in Rome on Monday of a 3-day Summit on World Food Security said that the planet has more than enough food for all, yet in just one day alone, more than 17.000 children die of hunger, one every five seconds. “Today, more than one billion people are hungry,” Ban told the assembled leaders from some 180 countries, calling for immediate action on long-term remedies. The leaders unanimously adopted a declaration pledging renewed commitment to eradicate hunger from the face of the earth sustainably and at the earliest date. They agreed to work to reverse the decline in domestic and international funding for agriculture, promote new investment, and face the challenges of climate change to food security.
Ban laid out a full, comprehensive spectrum of measures to combat a scourge gravely worsened by climate change and population growth that will see two billion more mouths to feed in 2050 with an overall need to grow 70 per cent more food. The steps range from immediate needs such as food aid, increased investments in agricultural development, including provision of seeds, water supplies and land to ensure higher productivity, better market access, and fairer trade, above all for smallholder farmers, especially women. “These smallholder farmers are the heart and soul of food security and poverty reduction,” Ban declared. “We must resist protectionism and end subsidies that distort markets. Our job is not just to feed the hungry, but to empower the hungry to feed themselves” said Ban.
Stressing on the inter-relationship between the food and global warming crises, Ban also pleaded for agreement at next month’s climate change summit in Copenhagen on curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The melting of Himalayan glaciers would affect the livelihoods and survival of 300 million people in China and up to 1 billion people throughout Asia, while Africa's small farmers, who produce most of the continent's food and depend mostly on rain, could see harvests drop by 50 per cent by 2020, he warned. “The world is impatient for us to make a difference. I, too, am impatient. And I am committed” Ban said.