IMF: “Rising food prices could lead to starvation”
IMF the International Monetary Fund has warned that spikes in food costs around the world could lead to starvation & the crumbling of governments. Dominique Strauss-Kahn said, “We are facing a huge problem”.
The IMF is often the lender of last resort for countries in trouble. Prices of wheat & rice have more than doubled in the past year, with rice - a staple in Asian diets - surging by 75 per cent in the past two months. The IMF & the World Bank wound up two days of meetings on Sunday that dealt with the financial crises roiling global markets & rising food & energy prices. A severe credit crisis could result in losses approaching USD1 trillion (euro 630 billion) before it is over.
Robert Zoellick, the head of the World Bank, urged immediate action to deal with rising food prices. He said the international community has “to put our money where our mouth is” & act now to help hungry people. Robert Zoellick said, “It is as stark as that”. He called on governments to rapidly carry out commitments to provide the UN World Food Program with USD 500 million (euro315.8 million) in emergency aid it needs by May 1.
More News
- IMF: “Rising food prices could lead to starvation” April 14, 2008
- US Report: An American eat 5 times more than an Indian May 4, 2008
- US eating more, producing less May 8, 2008
- First UN relief flight landed in Myanmar today May 8, 2008
- US: India should take food crisis remark positively May 10, 2008
- US Fed cuts key interest rate January 31, 2008
- Senegal police raided “Walf TV” station after prices protest March 31, 2008
- Suicide car bomber rams NATO-led convoy March 12, 2008
- Judge ordered India to pay $42.4 million to New York City March 19, 2008
- Gudi Padwa celebrating throughout Maharashtra April 6, 2008
There are 5 comment(s) so far ;)
I think if we as a nation stop spending billions of dollars on this war and use it to help feed our country and others, this lack of food situation would be helped. It’s so sad that our government and other countries governments can’t even feed the people in their own backyard. But we can afford to war with each other.
God Bless.
Millions of people die from one cause or another every single day. Nobody lives forever, and I wish the bleeding hearts at the UN and elsewhere would quit trying to make me feel guilty for not starving. Besides, I’m not in a position to determine who lives and who dies anymore. I was once, but y’all got pissed off about that to. It was called Vietnam.
The basic problem is high demand and price of Gas. Do not erase the earth/humanity for Ethanol. Governments must stop advocating Ethanol as alternative fuel, it is food. This issue is to be addressed internationally under auspices of U.N. OPEC must cut fuel prices. Poor suffer more than the rich.
We have ignored the peril of overpopulation for decades. Now, the world’s innocent and poor are going to be face to face with the horrible and unbelievable, while those of us living in the lands of plenty wring our hands and wonder what to do. We must begin a systematic and equitable reduction in world population, spread out over the next 4 or 5 generations. Otherwise, what we see happening today is going to be repeated over & over. It is an issue of basic parasitic self-control. Our host (Earth), cannot sustain 7 billion people and all the creature comforts we demand.
I turned to my daughter when the price of tortillas rose in Mexico - which was, when, a year or more year ago?-because corn was being sold to the US for fuel. I told her this world will erupt and this country will not exist as we know it if the poor of the world are deprived of food because of our greed for fuel - our “way of life” makes it profitable for farmers to feed our cars and not the people. I have not read or heard discussed by our presidential candidates or government representatives what could possibly be done to avert or in the event of a catastrophe of this magnitude. Surely, I am not the only one who foresaw the potential for this? Is our government so out of touch with reality, a Marie-Antoinette global perspective, that they, in no way, anticipated the eventuality of a world revolt? If so, may they figuratively suffer the same fate.