UN calls on Asia to protect poor from food crisis

BANGKOK — The food crisis that hit many developing countries last year is likely to re-emerge following the recession and Asian countries must take measures to protect poor people from rising prices, a U.N. report said Friday.

The report released in Bangkok called for Asian governments to implement social programs such as cash assistance and food-for-work schemes that ensure the poor have food during a period of higher prices.

Rapid hikes in the price of rice and fears of a global shortage set off riots and protests in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean last year.

The U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific report also recommended that countries in the near term boost the productivity of small-scale farmers by making it easier for them to get their crops to market, introducing micro credit programs that allow them to buy new equipment, and land and insurance schemes to help communities cope with disasters.

“This report reminds us that, while the world’s attention is very much on the economic crisis, food security remains a real threat,” Noeleen Heyzer, executive secretary of the agency a statement. “Given the magnitude of the problem in the Asia-Pacific region, our response will define how food security issues are resolved globally.”

The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which did not take part in the report, said in December that rising food prices had pushed the number of hungry people in the world close to 1 billion, with two-thirds of those in Asia.

Though prices have come down from their historic highs because of the global economic crisis, the FAO on Thursday warned that the cost of food remained high in developing countries and that “food emergencies” remained in 32 countries.

An analysis of domestic food prices in 58 developing countries by the FAO found that around 80 percent of the countries were seeing higher food prices than a year ago, and around 40 percent were seeing higher prices than three months ago. In 17 percent of countries, the prices are the highest on record. The situation is most dramatic in sub-Saharan Africa.

Heyzner warned that the economic crisis is contributing the problem, creating a new class of hungry people whose incomes are lower or who have lost their jobs.

“For millions of poor people across the Asia-Pacific region, the economic crisis will also be a food crisis,” she said. “The prices may have fallen, but their incomes have fallen further still.”

In its report, the U.N. said Asian governments should also consider long-term measures to prevent another crisis and cope with the impacts of climate change. Governments need to develop seed varieties that are flood- and drought-resistant and invest in irrigation networks and protect watersheds to prevent chronic water shortages that will worsen as temperatures increase, it said.