Food prices leap for Philippines, Thailand and poor
Updated
![The United Nations says spending on farming in poorer countries needs to rise ten-fold. [AFP]](http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/img/news/base/fiji_rice_afp_0308.jpg "The United Nations says spending on farming in poorer countries needs to rise ten-fold. [AFP]")
The United Nations says spending on farming in poorer countries needs to rise ten-fold. [AFP]
Commercial rice prices in the southern Philippines have soared more than 40 per cent over the past week.
It comes as a top United Nations official is warning that spending on farming in poorer countries needs to rise ten-fold to tackle the problem of world hunger, and Thailand's inflation rose sharply.
A kilogram of rice on Mindanao now sells for a $US1 a kilo, making the food staple beyond the reach of many people.
Our reporter in Manila, Shirley Escalante, reports president Gloria Arroyo has ordered officials to look into the cause of the sudden jump in rice prices in Mindanao, including the possibility of hoarding.
She ordered the National Food Authority, the state agency which distributes rice stocks, to increase the volume of government-subsidised rice available in the region.
Local officials have also put up price-monitoring teams to check soaring rice prices.
Residents who have been queuing to buy polished rice have been complaining of the sudden increase, saying they can afford to buy only a kilo or two of the staple.
The Philippines, the world's top importer of rice, says it has sufficient stocks to last until the lean season from July to September.
Thailand suffering huge inflation rise
Thailand's inflation rate jumped to a 10 year high of 7.6 per cent last month, as the commerce ministry said soaring fuel prices pushed up costs in food and other sectors.
In Thailand's food and beverage sector, prices jumped 11.8 per cent year-on-year, with rice, flour, meat, eggs and dairy goods all affected.
Fuel prices in Thailand have surged by 31.2 per cent.
Farming needs ten-fold increase for poor
Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, Jacques Diouf, speaking on the eve of a food security summit in Rome, has warned that spending on farming in poorer countries needs to rise ten-fold.
The summit was called after big rises in food prices sparked riots around the world.
Mr Diouf says $US30-50 billion is needed every year for long-term solutions.
"I hope that we'll do what we didn't do, which is give political priority to the problem of hunger and to the problem of world food security, and as a consequence put the necessary resources to address the root causes of the problem," he said.
