Food Price Surge Could Mean ‘7 Lost Years’ in Poverty Fight, Zoellick Says

The crisis of surging food prices could mean “seven lost years” in the fight against worldwide poverty, World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick said.

“While many are worrying about filling their gas tanks, many others around the world are struggling to fill their stomachs, and it is getting more and more difficult every day,” Zoellick said at a press briefing on the eve of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings.

To meet this crisis, Zoellick is calling for a “New Deal on Global Food Policy.”

For the “immediate crisis,” he urged governments to fill the US$500 million food gap identified by the UN’s World Food Program.

Under the New Deal, the World Bank will nearly double agricultural lending to Sub-Saharan Africa over the next year to US$800 million to substantially increase crop productivity. In addition, the International Finance Corporation – the World Bank Group’s arm for private sector development – will boost its agribusiness investments.

See full Press Release.