Southeast Asia says to cooperate over food security

By Gde Anugrah Arka and Ed Davies

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Southeast Asia nations meeting in Bali agreed on Saturday to cooperate over the rice market, but stopped short of concrete measures to deal with rocketing prices of the region's staple in most meals.

The issue of food security has hijacked the weekend meeting of trade ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the Indonesian resort island.

"The ministers affirmed that access to adequate and reliable supply of rice and stable prices are fundamental to the region's economic and social well being," said an ASEAN statement.

To meet these ends, it said ministers recognized the need to improve productivity through technology transfers, research and development as well as making more land available for agriculture and lifting spending -- both public and private.

Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Pangestu told a news conference that while ASEAN had stopped short of "concrete actions", the group "did agree very strongly to communicate and cooperate among ourselves."

Asian rice prices have almost trebled this year.

The Asian Development Bank meeting in Madrid pledged financial aid, without giving details of how much might be on offer for loans, and called for action from global governments.

The African Development Bank offered $1 billion more in food aid and urged grain-exporting countries not to curb shipments.

Countries including India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Brazil have restricted food exports in a bid to secure domestic supplies and limit inflation. Guinea on Saturday announced it was setting up an emergency food stock, especially for rice.

Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan said on Friday that farmers in Africa could double food output in five to 10 years if rich countries partner them in a "Green Revolution" for a long-term solution to the continent's food crisis,

Annan, who led a meeting of agriculture experts in Salzburg, said in a teleconference call that major funding was required to offset the impact on the world's poorest continent of the sharp price hikes for essential food and fuel.

Humanitarian aid could only be the first step of a longer-term strategy which should seek "to enable African farmers to dramatically increase their output so that Africa can feed itself and not be dependent on food aid".

"MASSIVE VIOLATION" OF HUMAN RIGHTS

The World Food Program has described soaring food prices as a "silent tsunami" that threatens to plunge more than 100 million people into poverty.

The new U.N. food envoy on Friday sought a special meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council this month to address a global food crisis he said was a "massive violation" of human rights.