Food crisis threaens global stability: UN Sec-Gen.

The United Nations is setting up a high-powered task force to deal with the global food crisis under the chairmanship of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The heads of other UN agencies and the World Bank will be part of the task force.

The UN chief says the number one priority is to feed the millions are going hungry because of soaring prices for basic commodities such as rice and flour.

The UN estimates that believes 100 million people are going short of food, and the World Food Programme says it will need an extra US$755 this year to meet its goal. That’s an increase of nearly 50 per cent.

The challenge is more intense because even developed countries are facing food shortages and governments have to adjust economic policies to deal with the crisis, which has reached – or will soon reach – their doorsteps.

In Canada, for example, one report warned that it is a matter of months before the country will face extraordinary price increases. The report by the bank of Nova Scotia says the effect of the crisis have been cushioned so far because of competition among the large grocery chains, but warned that that would end soon.

The World food Organization predicts that the food crisis would have multiple effects but warns that its most serious impact would be on the most vulnerable.

In one year, the cost of staple foods like rice, grain, oil and sugar have all gone up at least 50 per cent. And there is no end in sight.

Speaking with officials in Berne, Switzerland, World Bank President Robert Zoellick urged countries not to use export bans to protect food stocks. A host of countries across Asia have suspended rice exports amid fears that insufficient domestic supplies could lead to acute instability.

"These controls encourage hoarding, drive up prices and hurt the poorest people around the world who are struggling to feed themselves," he said.

In a statement after the meeting, the World Bank said that it would double its lending for agriculture in Africa over the next year. It said it was also considering providing quicker and more flexible financing for poor countries.

Food has become increasingly expensive, triggering unrest in several countries. In Haiti, the prime minister was forced to quit this month in the wake of violent food riots that spread from rural communities into the capital, Port-au-Prince.

The UN Chief says emergency measures are urgently needed to help the most needy and to give them access to basic foods in the coming months.

He warns that if this doesn’t happen the crisis will escalate and pose real threats to "economic growth, social progress, and even political security".