UN's Ban Will Form `High-Powered' Task Force on Food (Update1)

UN's Ban Will Form `High-Powered' Task Force on Food (Update1)
By Emily Bowers

April 20 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he will form a task force to address the global food shortages and rising prices that have sparked riots in poor nations.

The group will be ``high-powered'' and include ``eminent experts and leading policy authorities,'' Ban said in a speech at the opening ceremony of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Ghana's capital, Accra, today. He didn't give further details.

The price of rice, the staple food for half the world, has doubled in the past year to an all-time high. Countries including Indonesia and Egypt have seen social unrest over high prices, and are attempting to restrain inflation and curb instability by limiting food exports or removing import duties on food staples.

``If not handled properly, this crisis could trigger a cascade of others and devolve into multiple crises, becoming a multidimensional problem affecting economic growth, social progress and even political security around the world,'' Ban said.

Global food shortages may become permanent if medium- and long-term measures aren't taken to resolve issues that caused the crisis, Supachai Panitchpakdi, UNCTAD secretary-general, told reporters in Accra yesterday.

World Trade Organization head Pascal Lamy told a press conference in Accra today that a breakthrough in the Doha round of trade negotiations could be ``doable'' in a matter of weeks.

``Hopefully this conference will help to get it done,'' Lamy added.

To contact the reporters on this story: Emily Bowers in Accra via Johannesburg on abolleurs@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: April 20, 2008 15:36 EDT