Development aid focuses on food security
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has focused its annual conference on the issue of food security.
Despite some limited progress, the SDC said “the international community is still far from the goal of halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015”.
In her opening address, Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said the international community was called upon like never before to deliver food and water to the victims of flooding in Pakistan.
Calmy-Rey added that Pakistan was a sad example of the needs of people in poor nations. There are 82 countries worldwide which have a shortage of food, she said.
The causes for this problem can be attributed to the food and financial crises, along with the rising prices for foodstuffs, energy and fertiliser, the SDC added.
The agency, a division of the Swiss foreign ministry, took a positive approach at the conference, saying that food production could be boosted by “linking traditional knowledge with applied research” that takes into account the needs of poor nations.
The SDC is responsible for the overall coordination of development activities and cooperation with Eastern Europe, as well as for delivering Switzerland’s official humanitarian aid.
swissinfo.ch and agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.