FAO backs strategic food stocks to help stabilise prices

After meeting French President Francois Hollande in Paris, FAO chief Jose Graziano da Silva said the food agency "fully supports this initiative" proposed by France which had previously been discussed by the G20 group of the world's richest and biggest emerging economies.

"That would be a very good message, especially for small farms, if we started to have stocks for food security," said Graziano da Silva.

He added that the second half of the year "will be a very good moment" to establish these stocks as "a very good harvest" is expected which would lead to a drop in prices.

"We know from our previous experience that it's impossible to have food security in one country. We need food security for all," he said.

"If we could have national and regional stocks combined that would be the best situation for the farms in the future, and the only way that we can face the volatility we face now in the markets," he added.

In addition the FAO and the French agriculture ministry have called for a rapid reaction forum created by the G20 to hold a meeting in Rome of agriculture ministers in mid-October, around World Food Day, the two said in a joint statement.

The forum set up at the G20 summit in June 2011 in Paris aims to coordinate policies in response to crises or tensions in global food markets.

Global food prices remained steady in August, the FAO said on September 6, but it warned that "the game is not over" as it was only the beginning of the harvest season.

Source: AFP