G8 statement: World lags in tackling poverty, hunger

ROME. April 21. KAZINFORM Reaching global food security and tackling poverty and hunger remain far away goals due to a lack of successful strategies and the persisting economic crisis, the Group of Eight (G8) agriculture ministers said Sunday in a draft statement, Kazinform refers to Xinhuanet.

The G8 ministers at their first-ever agricultural meeting in northeast Italy are to present Monday morning the final joint document, enlarged to the views of the G5 countries, namely China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico, as well as Argentina, Egypt and Australia. According to the draft, the world is far from reaching the United Nations Millennium Goal that pledged to halve the number of hungry people in the world by 2015, a problem worsened by the financial turmoil. The document added that price volatility and the unbalance between food supply and demand suggest fears about global food security will continue, Kazinform cites Xinhuanet. See www.chinaview.cn for full version.