United Nations Radio

High prices of grains and favorable weather conditions will result in a record harvest next year, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

In the latest issue of its biannual publication "Food Outlook", FAO warns, however, that the financial crisis will negatively affect agricultural sectors, notably those in the developing world.

The report stresses that most of the recovery in cereal production took place in developed countries, where farmers were in a better position to respond to high prices.

In a related development, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf called today on US President-elect Barack Obama to make the eradication of world hunger a priority and to host a world summit on the issue in the first half of next year. Heightened awareness of the plight of more than 900 million hungry persons as a result of the ongoing global food and financial crises, Diouf says, has created a "special window of opportunity for such an initiative."

Reporting for UN Radio, I'm Bissera Kostova.

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