By Daniel Wallis and Cynthia Johnston
SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - African Union statesmust unite to reduce the impact of soaring food prices thathave hit their citizens harder than the rest of the world, thecontinent's top diplomat warned on Friday.
Experts say poor harvests, high fuel costs and risingdemand, especially from fast-growing Asian nations, mean onebillion people worldwide are now threatened by hunger.
"This sharp increase (in basic food prices) has had aparticularly negative effort on African countries," Jean Ping,chairman of the AU Commission, told AU foreign ministersmeeting in Egypt.
"In the medium and long term, the Commission proposesmeasures to regulate speculation, the sharing of public cerealstocks, strengthening the financing of imports and reliablefood aid, promoting investment in social protection andincreased investment to boost agricultural production."
Commodity prices have doubled over the last couple of yearsand the World Bank says that 100 million people risk joiningthe 850 million already going hungry. The United Nations saysfood output must double by 2050 to meet demand.
Ping did not give details of his proposals, but he said itwas crucial African countries negotiate with the West with onevoice on the food crisis, as well as on soaring energy costs.
"The increase in oil prices puts huge pressure on thefinances of many African countries that are petroleumimporters, and it increases transport costs, which exacerbatethe food crisis," he said.
He said an AU summit in Mozambique in 2003 had instructedhis Commission to coordinate Africa's stance in the currentround of World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks, which he saidwere crucial to avoiding commodity price shocks in the future.
But he said that these had not been completely successful-- especially the thrashing out of controversial EconomicPartnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union.
"At the WTO talks and the EPA, our negotiators clearly laidout Africa's concerns in the fields of business anddevelopment," Ping said. "But it must be said, Africa'sexpectations in these negotiations, and in particular the EPAs,are not yet fully satisfied."
(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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