Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Manila (Agenzia Fides) - There is a need to deter the “silent tsunami” that is being provoked by the rise in rice costs and that threatens the lives of 100 million people. This is the call that has been issued by the United Nations World Food Program, that claims to be facing the biggest challenge in its history. The WFP’s appeal has also been backed by declarations made by the General Director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Rajat Nag. Mr. Nag pointed out that the quantity of food supply in Asia and in the world is globally sufficient, but a way must be found so that the poor can meet there needs, as well. The response of Asian governments in blocking or rationing their exports, has been unnecessarily drastic.
The poorest populations of Asia and Africa are experiencing a rice crisis for various reasons: decrease in cultivatable lands, adverse weather patterns, low harvest, and the use of farmlands and fields for manufacturing biocarbonates. “It seems as though the era of low-cost food products has passed,” said Rajat Nag. The cost of rice in Thailand, the number 1 exporting country of the world’s rice, has doubled in one year. Nag encouraged Asian governments not to place limits on exports, but rather to use financial measures and benefits to help the poorest sectors of the population.
India and Vietnam, for example, have limited their rice exports with the hope of controlling prices in their own countries, and making the prices rise everywhere else. The Director of the ADB says that the commercial barriers and the isolationist measures being taken will not help to resolve the crisis. The Asian Development Bank is a multilateral finance institution that began in 1966, with the goal of promoting economic and social progress in the Asia-Pacific region. It offers technical and financial assistance to projects that promote the economic development of the area. It works in support of the region’s economic growth, social development, and regional solidarity, as well as integration of the public and private sectors and the non-governmental organizations. The Bank is comprise of 67 member countries and is headquartered in Manila. (PA)(Agenzia Fides 23/4/2008; righe 27, parole 357)
