The Pan African News Agency (PANA) reports that Ban made the call at a three-day summit on food security, which opened at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) headquarters in Rome, Italy.
PANA learnt that more than 60 heads of state are attending the summit, which is organised by the FAO to discuss measures to eradicate famine and solve the ongoing food crisis.
The secretary-general, who delivered a keynote address, noted that, ``there could be no food security without climate security''.
He, however, urged world leaders to take concrete measures to eradicate world famine and forge a deal at a Copenhagen meeting next month on global warming.
He also said that, ``the plight of the hungry must be ended at once'', pointing out that there were more than one billion undernourished people in the world, with six million children dying every year.
``Food is a basic right and nutritional security is the foundation of a decent life, sound education" and social and political stability."
PANA reports that the UN chief, who on Sunday joined a 24-hour fasting, to show solidarity with the hungry, stressed the fact that, ``going without food is a daily reality for many around the world''.
He also urged the international community to halt the ``chain reaction that sees high food prices leading to social unrest.
"The food crisis of today is a wake-up call for tomorrow," Ban warned, adding that the situation would be made more critical in the future because there were multiple challenges humanity must face.
According to him: ``A rise in world population, which will reach 9.2 billion by 2050, and the negative effects of global warming will dramatically increase food shortage. This is why food production must increase 70 per cent in the short run.''
Ban also said food security and climate change were deeply interconnected, forming a double challenge that, however, needs a one-solution approach.
He also called for a revolutionary strategy that might ``transform agricultural development, markets and how food is distributed''.
He further called for the mobilisation of more resources and stronger public-private partnerships in order to boost investment in agriculture.
``It is solely through an increase in funding of sustainable food systems that shocks such as an economic crisis or climate change can be handled,'' the UN chief concluded.
New York - 16/11/2009
Pana
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