Call for green revolution in Africa

A summit on the global food crisis is asking rich nations to help "revolutionise" farming in Africa.

The United Nations summit in Rome is drawing up emergency plans for a green revolution in Africa to ease the threat of hunger that affects nearly a billion people.

"The global food crisis is a wake-up call for Africa to launch itself into a green revolution which has been over-delayed," Nigerian agriculture minister Sayyadi Abba Ruma said on the second day of the three-day summit.

"Every second, a child dies of hunger. The time to act is now. Enough rhetoric and more action," the minister said.

"We hope to spur a green revolution in Africa which respects biodiversity and the continent's distinct regions," said Annan, who chairs the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) which is co-ordinating the effort.

The scheme will provide technical support to improve soil and water management, access to seeds and fertilisers, and improve infrastructure in "breadbasket" areas of Africa which have relatively good conditions for farming.

The Nigerian minister said his country had "the potential to become the food basket of Africa".

But its farms were 90 per cent dependant on rainfall, making them vulnerable to climate change, and its 14 million smallholders used "rudimentary" techniques.

"We commit to eliminating hunger and to securing food for all, today and tomorrow," read a draft declaration from the three-day summit, attended by about 44 world leaders and high-level representatives from a total of 151 countries.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said the summit was already a success.

He said: "There is a clear sense of resolve, shared responsibility and political commitment among member states to making the right policy choices and investing in agriculture in the years to come.

"Hunger degrades everything we have been fighting for in recent years and decades," he told reporters. "We are duty-bound to act now and to act as one."

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation called the emergency meeting in Rome after soaring commodity prices threatened to add as many as 100 million more people to the 850 million already going hungry.

The cost of major food commodities has doubled over the last couple of years, with rice, corn and wheat at record highs.

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