On the High-Level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy (Rome, June 3-5, 2008)

PRESS RELEASE

The High-Level Conference on the global food crisis was held on June 3-5 at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome. Delegations from 180 countries (more than 40 represented at the level of Heads of State and Government), the UN Secretary General, senior officials of international organizations and financial agencies and representatives of nongovernmental organizations and private business took part. Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev led the Russian delegation.

The conference demonstrated a deep concern of the international community over the situation in the world food market and the continuing rise in food prices. In speakers' view, this has an extremely adverse impact on the standard of living of the population, especially in developing counties, puts the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in jeopardy and causes social and political instability in many countries. Mentioned among the causes of the global food crisis were, in particular, curtailed agricultural production in a number of countries which are main food producers, greater consumption in major developing countries, increased production of biofuels, climate change, and high energy and fertilizer costs.

The Russian delegation accentuated attention to our country's readiness to increase its contribution to overcoming the food crisis by using its natural advantages and to the necessity of developing new technologies and improving access by farming populations to them, drawing new lands into economic turnover without damage to the environment, and developing second generation technologies using nonfood raw materials for biofuels production.

At the end of the Conference a declaration was adopted containing measures in the areas of providing food assistance, reinforcing systems of social protection, developing agriculture and adapting to climate change as well as recommendations for the study of the biofuel production impact on food security.

In the course of the forum countries and international banks announced the allocation of a total of about 8.5 billion dollars in additional funds to provide urgent food aid and develop agriculture in developing countries.

June 6, 2008