ROME — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is warning that shortages of food and spiraling prices threaten widespread destabilization. She is urging immediate action to prevent a repeat of the 2007 and 2008 crisis that led to riots in dozens of countries around the developing world.
Clinton told a meeting of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization on Friday that urgent steps are needed to hold down costs and boost agricultural production as food prices continue to rise. She says the consequences of inaction would be "grave" and that the world could not keep falling back on the "band aid" of emergency food aid to prevent famine.
The U.N. estimates that 44 million people have been pushed into poverty since last June because of rising food prices.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.