By Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary General

There was, last week, a glimmer of hope in the world food crisis. Expecting a bumper harvest, Ukraine relaxed restrictions on exports. Overnight, global wheat prices fell by 10 percent.

By contrast, traders in Bangkok quote rice prices around $1,000 a ton, up from $460 two months ago.

Such is the volatility of today's markets. We do not know how high food prices might go, nor how far they could fall. But one thing is certain: We have gone from an era of plenty to one of scarcity. Experts agree that food prices are not likely to return to the levels the world had grown accustomed to any time soon.

Consumers are grumbling even in the wealthy nations of Europe and the United States. But imagine the situation of those living on less than $1 a day - the "bottom billion," the poorest of the world's poor. Most live in Africa, and many might typically spend two-thirds of their income on food.

Farmers in Kabale are set to start growing tea that will be processed in their own factory and could be exported directly to global markets. This will be the first cash crop grown by residents who mainly depend on subsistence farming.

NEW DELHI: Indian Farmers Fertilizer Co-operative Limited has signed an agreement with Central Agricultural Cooperative Union (CACU), an umbrella organisation for growth of cooperative movement in Egypt, to develop co-operatives and share ...