3 June 2008: In his address to the High-Level Conference on
World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy, which
convened from 3-5 June 2008, in Rome, Italy, the Secretary-General of the UN
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Supachai Panitchpakdi, criticized
subsidized exports from the developed world, noting that many former net
exporters of food in Africa, Asia and Latin America are now net importers as a
result of the market distortions caused by the subsidies.
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5 June 2008: Deputy Executive Secretary Grégoire de Kalbermatten
addressed the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) High-Level Conference on
Food Security on 5 June 2008, and emphasized actions to enhance carbon
sequestration in soil. He suggested that the climate change negotiations should
give increased attention to land and soil, including by expanding the Clean
Development Mechanism's (CDM) coverage of agricultural land use, particularly
projects focusing on carbon sequestration in soil.
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4 June 2008: At the UN Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) High-Level Conference on World Food Security, held in Rome Italy, from
3-5 June 2008, FAO, the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in
Africa (AGRA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to boost food
production in Africa's breadbasket regions – regions with relatively good
rainfall, soils, infrastructure and markets – and to support smallholder
farmers.
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4 June 2008: The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has
released a report on the use of wood biomass as a source of energy. Following
an overview of projections for global energy supply and demand to 2030, the
report discusses wood energy efficiency and competitiveness, highlighting the
use of by-products of the wood processing industry. It also makes
recommendations on issues to address in planning policies and programmes that
support bioenergy development.
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4 June 2008: Speaking at the FAO High-Level Conference on
World Food Security, which convened in Rome, Italy, from 3-5 June 2008, Louise
Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the food crisis is a
forceful signal “about individual human rights and the need for collective
action.” Reporting on a special session of the Human Rights Council on the food
emergency, she called for a human rights framework to analyze the causes of the
crises and “to clarify the power imbalances inside and between countries that
trigger or exacerbate the food crisis, including unfair trade practices or
skewed policies involving incentives and subsidies.”
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3 June 2008: Speaking at the FAO High-Level Conference on
World Food Security, which convened in Rome, Italy, from 3-5 June 2008, Emile
Frison, Chair of the Alliance of Centres supported by the Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and Director General of Bioversity
International, said that, among other factors, lack of investment in
agricultural research has contributed to the global food price crises. He
highlighted the importance of such investment, citing a World Bank report on
investment into agricultural development that found “an average internal rate
of return of 43 percent.”
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3 June 2008: Noting that food choices and nutrition are
highly sensitive to food prices, World Health Organization (WHO)
Director-General Margaret Chan sent a message to the FAO High-Level Conference
on World Food Security, which convened in Rome, Italy from 3-5 June 2008,
highlighting that “the food crisis is a direct threat to much hard-won progress
in health development.”
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30 May 2008: This UN Food and Agriculture Organization study
examines the impact of biofuel production on the human rights to adequate food
and to be free from hunger. It was authored by Asbjørn Eide, senior fellow of the
Norwegian Center for Human Rights at the University of Oslo, and seeks to
contribute to the present discussion on soaring food prices, climate change and
biofuels.
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3 June 2008: UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon urged “bold and urgent steps” to tackle the global food crisis in his
statement to the FAO High-Level Conference on World Food Security, which
convened in Rome, Italy, from 3-5 June 2008. Noting that food production will
have to rise by 50% by the year 2030 to meet rising demand, he said “it is
important that our longer term focus is on improving world food security - and
remains so for some years.”
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3 June 2008: In his opening statement to the High-Level
Conference on World Food Security in Rome, Italy, FAO Director-General Jacques
Diouf called on Heads of State to make urgently needed investments in
agriculture to address the global food crisis and ensure long term food security.
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