Wealthy nations chided over aid

Resolving the global food crisis could cost as much as $30 billion a year, and wealthier nations are doing little to help the developing world face the problem, U.N. officials said Tuesday.

At the U.N. food summit, Jacques Diouf, head of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, opened the meeting by sharply criticizing wealthy nations that he said were cutting back on agriculture programs for the world's poor and ignoring deforestation -- while spending billions on carbon markets, subsidies for farmers and biofuel production.

"The developing countries did in fact forge policies, strategies and programs that -- if they had received appropriate funding -- would have given us world food security," Diouf said.

Another major debate that emerged was the role of biofuels in producing food shortages. The U.S. delegation here maintains that only 2 to 3 percent of food price rises were attributable to the biofuel boom. The United Nations however, said the effect was much greater.

Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the United Nations, appealed for financial support from wealthy nations to provide more food aid and help poor countries grow more food.