United Nations Radio

The Chinese characters for crisis are two -- one is the symbol for "danger", but the other is the symbol for "opportunity". It is with this view that UN Radio presents "The Food Crisis: Danger and Opportunity" a series that puts the human face on the crisis, while looking ahead to possible long and medium-term solutions.

Episode 3: High fuel prices raise cost of imports

High oil prices are raising the cost of imported food and affecting poor farmers' ability to plant more food for the next season. Developing countries need to grow their own food to lessen their dependence on expensive imported food. Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world, is giving poor farmers inputs such as hybrid seeds and fertilizer to increase their capacity to produce food. The projects being implemented in Malawi include irrigation and reforestation in exchange for agricultural inputs.

Producer: Derrick Mbatha

(duration: 11'50")