World Bank Announces Increase in Food Crisis Aid
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WASHINGTON — The World Bank is stepping up efforts to help overcome the global food crisis by providing an extra $1.2 billion in grants and loans.
To deal with immediate and long-term food problems, the bank said yesterday that it will increase its overall support for agriculture and food aid to $6 billion next year, up from $4 billion in 2008.
The president of the 185-nation lending organization, Robert Zoellick, said that as the international community heads into a major U.N. summit in Rome next week to address the global food problem, “there is a need for a clear action plan” because “higher food prices are driving people and countries into danger.”
He said that aid should be provided to handle immediate humanitarian needs such as seeing that pregnant women receive proper nutrition and children at school are fed. He said longer-term help should go to small farmers to include seed and fertilizer for the next planting season so they can increase their harvests.
