Ban-ki-Moon for increased assistance to agri sector globally

New York, Jul 4 (PTI) Ahead of next week's summit of
industrialised nations, United Nations Secretary-General Ban
Ki-Moon has pressed on the need for increasing assistance to
agricultural sector worldwide, to deal with the global food
crisis.

Listing among the causes of the current food crisis, the
failure to give agricultural development the importance it
deserves, Ban said he will call on G-8 nations in Hokkaido to
triple official assistance for agricultural research and
development over the next three to five years.

The UN top official also emphasised the need for a sort
of "green revolution" that had transformed South-East Asia, in
an article in The Washington Post, prior to the G8 summit
which begins in Hokkaido, Japan on July 7.

Also needed is urgent action to get seeds, fertilizers
and other agricultural inputs to farmers in poor countries,
and the elimination of barriers that distort trade patterns
and drive up prices, he wrote.

On climate change, he noted that alternate technologies
are among the best hopes for cleaner, affordable power and
should be disseminated to the developing countries.

"And we must help developing countries 'green' their
economies by spreading climate-friendly technologies as
broadly as possible," the Secretary-General said.

Terming the current economic crisis as the greatest ever,
Ban said, "More than ever, this is the moment to prove that we
can cooperate globally to deliver results in meeting the needs
of the hungry and poor, in promoting sustainable energy
technologies for all and in saving the world from climate
change."

Recent years have been marked by the kind of economic
growth that has raised living standards worldwide and lifted
billions out of poverty. "Yet today, many wonder how long it
can last," the Secretary-General noted.

The world is already witnessing rising cost of fuel, food
and commodities. At the same time, climate change and
environmental degradation threaten the future of the planet.

"We know that these issues affect us all -- north and
south, large nations and small, rich and poor. And we know we
must find ways to extend the benefits of global boom to those
who have been left behind, the so-called 'bottom billion," he
said.

"In dealing with problems of such dimension and
complexity, there is only one possible approach: to see them
for what they are – as parts of a whole requiring a
comprehensive solution."

G-8 leaders can take a "big step forward" by funding the
global Adaptation Fund and ensuring it becomes operational,
said Ban, who also called for pushing ahead with negotiations
for a comprehensive agreement limiting greenhouse gases.

"Hokkaido will test our commitment to the Millennium
Development Goals," he wrote, referring to the set of
anti-poverty targets to be achieved worldwide by 2015.