MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Poor countries need 6 billion USD annually to pay for food

Poor countries will need some 6 billion US dollars in food aid annually, with food and energy prices expected to remain high for years to come, said Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank.

Zoellick said the bank also was seeking billions more dollars to finance climate investment funds to help developing countries combat global warming and facilitate the transfer of technologies from the industrial world. The bank president estimated this year 10 billion would be needed to ease the effects of food inflation, including 3.5 billion for "short-term safety net" projects in more than 50 countries, such as school aid the World Food Program, which feeds the world's hungry, would require 6 billion on a continuing basis. "While we hope for some supply response, our estimate is that prices will remain above 2004 levels through at least 2012," he said. Energy prices also would remain high and volatile, he forecasted. Zoellick was attending a conference on the changing functions of the World Bank. He also said he received pledges of 6 billion US dollars for the climate funds during this week's summit in Japan of the Group of Eight industrial countries, which he said was separate from all other development aid.