Here's a simple idea to make a dent in hunger in the Philippines that has experienced rice shortages and high prices recently: If the world Bank can set up financing to buy one of those shiny new rice harvesting machines to send to the Philippines and people around the world can contribute a little bit to make the payments for the harvester, then the people in the Philippines can increase their production of rice and lift themselves out of hunger and poverty. If the first machine works well, then more could be bought later. I think the World Bank would like to see everyone's email about that idea.
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There are also urgent calls to help millions of poor farmers who are planting much less this year because they cannot afford the record-high cost of fertilizer and fuel. When the tsunami of 2004 devastated many millions, the world gave $12 billion in aid rapidly. I have called this crisis a silent tsunami that knows no borders.
No one wants to be dependent: we must help the hungry help themselves. The WFP has revolutionized food aid to build local capacity through ways such as making 80 percent of our food purchases from farmers in the developing world. We can help get food to those who need it, as we have recently in Myanmar—using the WFP's network of planes, ships, helicopters and, where necessary, donkeys, camels and elephants. But we must also take this as a wake up call to act now to defeat the plague of hunger once and for all.
Jacques Diouf
Director-general, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
The FAO has called a summit of world leaders, to be held in Rome from June 3 to 5, to find solutions tothis crisis. Most urgently, we need to get seeds and fertilizers to the most vulnerable countries so that they can improve this year's harvest. This will require $1.7 billion for those countries.
Looking ahead, we need to reverse the distorted trade, aid and investment policies that have slowed agricultural growth in much of the developing world over the past two decades. The time is right because high prices finally make it attractive to invest in farming.
We need to see this emergency not just as a threat to people's lives and livelihoods but as an opportunity for us to make a new start on agriculture and help more than a billion poor farmers make a decent living for themselves and their families.
It means making major investments in agricultural infrastructure in developing countries—irrigation above all, because water control is crucial. More roads, communications and transport and storage facilities will also be required, because farmers will never benefit from higher prices if they cannot bring their produce to market.
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