Mexico, Nicaragua to
Address Food Prices
President of Nicaragua
Daniel Ortega is
promoting a strategic
program for regional
countries to market
grains at favorable
prices.
On the eve of today ó s
meeting of agriculture
ministers from Central
America and the
Caribbean in Panama to
discuss the challenges
of food emergency and
sovereignty, Ortega
suggested steps to
stabilize food prices.
He said that fair trade
is essential to solve
the problem because "in
a free market, the one
who buys is the one who
has more money and does
not care if s/he leaves
someone else without
food."
The nations should set
guidelines to secure
supply stability without
market-set prices, he
stressed.
The widespread regional
concern about soaring
food prices has prompted
several meetings in the
last few days, including
the Special ALBA
(Bolivarian Alternative
for the Americas) Summit
held in Caracas, where
members signed an
agreement of food
sovereignty and security
as a response to the
crisis.
Mexican non-government
organizations said the
country is showing signs
of a food crisis
triggered by soaring
food prices and urged
stockpiling food and
declaring a moratorium
on biofuel production.
The civic groups, led by
the Mexican chapter of
the Foodfirst
Information and Action
Network, referred to the
increasing grain import,
the fall in agricultural
production and high
consumer food prices. |
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