The World Bank estimates that higher food prices are pushing 30 million Africans into poverty. Zoellick said African leaders wanted action, not words.“It would be unfortunate if (bio-energy) becomes the sole point of debate, because then we would not meet what poor countries tell me they want, which is resources for safety net programs, seeds and fertilizers, and export bans lifted,” he told Reuters.
Brazil, a pioneer in sugar-cane based biofuels, is set to defend them at the summit. Its foreign minister, Celso Amorim, said fair trade and the abolition of rich countries’ subsidies to farmers were crucial issues for the summit.
World prices for food are expected to fall from current peaks in the coming years but will remain “substantially above” average levels from the past decade, according to a joint agricultural report issued by the U.N.’s FAO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
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