Agriculture spending must increase tenfold, UN hears

As the United Nations food summit gets underway in Rome today, world leaders have been warned about the true scale of the food crisis and what it will cost to turn it around.

Developing countries are being told to revolutionise their agriculture sectors and spend 10 times more than they do now to address the problem.

The UN's leading food official, Jacques Diouf, says food production must double by the year 2050 and that means tens of billions of dollars worth of investment.

"In the short-term we indicated a need for $755 million for food aid. We also indicated $1.7 billion to assist poor countries' farmers get access to seeds, to fertilisers and animal feed," he said.

"When we want to address the whole problem of how to double food production by the year 2050 to feed a world population of 6 billion that will reach 9 billion, then we are talking of investment in the magnitude of $30 to $50 billion a year."

The global food crisis has been grabbing headlines all over the world in recent times and Mr Diouf says the world must build momentum.