A three-day summit conference of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has begun in Rome.

UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon warned in his opening address that drastic measures are needed to halt the increasing hunger in the world. He said 70 percent more food needs to be grown by the year 2050 in order to feed the projected world population of nine billion people.
 

Pope Benedict XVI criticized what he called the greed of traders who speculate in foodstuffs. The President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso called for a scientific warning system for food shortages.
 

The delegates attending the summit have promised to help poor countries grow more food, although they have not allocated the necessary funds. More than 60 heads of state and government are attending the Rome conference.
 

An estimated one billion people around the globe suffer from malnutrition. Every six seconds a child dies of starvation.