United Nations Radio

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki -moon says $15 billion to $20 billion is needed every year to boost food production in the fight against hunger.~

The Secretary-General says while most of the money will come from concerned countries, bilateral donors and regional institutions will need to contribute.

He says addressing the world food crisis in all its immediate and longer term aspects requires substantial and sustained financial and political commitment. And he adds that the Rome summit is an opportunity.

"While we do not know all the answers, we know what is mostly needed now and in the near future. This is a fight we cannot afford to lose. The enemy is hunger. Hunger degrades everything we have been fighting for in recent years and decades."

The Secretary-General says recent riots and protests show that hunger and the threat of hunger breed unrest and instability.

And he warns that "we are duty-bound to act -to act now and to act as one."

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.

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