As UN agencies met in Rome to discuss the response to the earthquake in Haiti, General Jacques Diouf, of the Food and Agriculture Organization issued a stark warning:

“At a time when Haiti is facing a major food crisis we are alarmed at the lack of support to the agricultural component of the Flash Appeal,”

The UN issued a flash appeal for $575 million after the earthquake, $23 million of which was for the agricultural program, however, Diouf added:

“[O]nly 8 per cent of this sum has so far been funded.”

and:

“The economic and social reconstruction of Haiti requires a revival of food production and massive investment in rural areas.”