United Nations Radio

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the international community, in particular developed countries, to urgently provide more than $700 million to the World Food Programme to feed the hungry.

Mr. Ban was speaking on behalf of the Chief Executive Board of United Nations agencies, which today ended a two-day meeting in Bern, Switzerland, focusing on the food crisis.

The Secretary-General warned that without full funding of the United Nations food agency's emergency requirements, there is a risk of widespread hunger, malnutrition and social unrest on an unprecedented scale.

The Secretary-General said the current food crisis has multiple causes including escalating emergency prices, lack of investment in agriculture over the past years, increasing demand, subsidies that distort trade and recurrent bad weather.

"This crisis has multi effects with its most serious impact on the most vulnerable in the poorest countries. We see mounting hunger and increasing evidence of malnutrition which has severely strained the capacities of humanitarian agencies to meet humanitarian needs, especially as promised funding has not yet materialized."

The Secretary-General said United Nations agencies are already taking concrete measures, including proposing an emergency initiative to provide farmers in poor countries with seeds and inputs to boost production.

Diane Bailey, United Nations.

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