G8 correcting mistakes tackling hunger: U.N.

By Phil Stewart

L'AQUILA, Italy (Reuters) - Leaders of rich nations are shifting from food donations to agricultural investment to tackle world hunger but pledges made at a G8 summit in Italy will not meet needs, a senior U.N. official said on Friday.

Jacques Diouf, director-general of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), applauded a G8 statement, set to be approved by leaders shortly, pledging $15 billion over three years to boost agricultural investment in poorer countries.

"What is new and is encouraging is that there is a decision for the first time to shift policy," Diouf told Reuters in an interview.

"Food aid is necessary because we have people suffering from drought, from flood, from conflicts and what they want is immediate food to eat ... But if we have to feed 1 billion hungry people, we have to help them produce their own food."

The U.S. is the world's largest aid donor of food -- mostly grown domestically and bought from U.S. farmers.

Diouf said the details of the $15 billion, for investment and food security, were yet to be clarified but would be under discussion on Friday.

"Certainly, it's not enough. But compared to where we were, it's certainly a big jump."

According to the United Nations, the number of malnourished people has risen over the past two years and is expected to top 1.02 billion this year, reversing a four-decade trend of decline.

"I think the G8 should help reverse the trend. How far they go toward achieving the goal, that's the question," Diouf said.

Diouf criticized reductions in aid for agriculture, which he said fell from 17 percent in 1980 to around 5 percent today.

"You don't develop a sector by cutting resources to that sector. We therefore should reverse this negative trend in resources to agriculture and go back," he said.

UNKEPT PROMISES

G8 summits have a history of unkept aid promises. In a report last month, anti-poverty group ONE said the richest nations were collectively off course in delivering on promises to more than double aid to Africa made at a G8 summit in 2005.

Diouf said in a statement to the G8 that food shortages had wide ramifications, referring to riots that occurred in some countries as a result of global economic crisis and steep rises in food prices.

"The tragic events of the last three years, with riots in 22 countries in all regions of the world, restrictive and protectionist measures on the supply side, clearly demonstrated how fragile our international food system is and how vulnerable it is."