World leaders gather in the Italian capital next week for a high-level summit on global food security which will focus on combating hunger and poverty as well as boosting agricultural production.
The summit, a response to soaring prices and the growing demand for food, will be held at the Rome-based United Nations Food and Agriculture organization (FAO) from June 3-5.
In a key policy document prepared for the conference, FAO said the international community should take ''urgent and concrete actions to address the issues of hunger and malnutrition in the face of soaring food prices, scarce land and water resources, climate change, increased energy needs and population growth''.
''The current dramatic world food situation reminds us of the fragility of the balance between global food supplies and the needs of the world's inhabitants, and of the fact that earlier commitments to accelerate progress towards the eradication of hunger have not been met,'' said FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf.
''We hope that world leaders coming to Rome will agree on the urgent measures that are required to boost agricultural production, especially in the most affected countries, and at the same time protect the poor from being adversely affected by high food prices,'' he added.
Because of soaring food prices, FAO has suggested a twin-track approach of providing emergency assistance to the most poor and hungry while relaunching farming and revitalizing rural communities.
FAO has observed that high food prices represent an excellent opportunity for increased investments in agriculture by both the public and private sectors to stimulate production and productivity.
''This is a unique moment in history: for the first time in 25 years, a fundamental incentive - high food commodity prices - is in place for stimulating the agricultural sector,'' Diouf said.
''Governments, supported by their international partners, must now undertake the necessary public investment and provide a favourable environment for private investments, while at the same time ensuring that the most vulnerable are protected from hunger,'' he added.
Aside from heads of state or governments, the summit will also be attended by UN Secretary-General and the heads of many UN organizations.
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and the UN chief will hold a dinner Tuesday night for the heads of state or government attending the summit.
These include Presidents Niicolas Sarkozy of France, Brazil's Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, Argentina's Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Algeria's Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
Berlusconi will hold bilateral consultations with several of the leaders on the sidelines of the summit, many of whom have also asked to be received by Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will also attend the summit and it appears he will be invited to the Vatican as he has requested.
While the only contact with the Italian government will be a possible meeting between Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and his Iranian counterpart Manoucher Mottaki, Ahmadinejad and his delegation is expected to meet with members of Italy's business community.
