'The 2000 Millennium Declaration aimed to halve the proportion of the world population facing poverty and undernourishment by the year 2015; the world is very far from reaching this goal, according to the alarming data provided by the relevant international bodies,' they said.

The ministers from the club of rich nations, who were joined for three days of talks here by their G5 counterparts from Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa, also called for a possible system for stockpiling basic foods.

'We call upon the relevant international institutions to examine whether a system of stockholding could be effective in dealing with humanitarian emergencies or as a means to limit price volatility,' they said in a final declaration.

Skyrocketing prices for basic foodstuffs last year triggered riots in some poorer nations around the world, putting cartels that seek to drive up the price of crops such as rice in the firing line.

French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier said Sunday that an international system to manage food reserves was being sought 'to fight against speculators preying on primary foodstuffs, which is scandalous.'

He said the world needed the sort of supply management systems that operate across the European Union, adding: 'There are no excuses for not reacting - a billion people are suffering from hunger.'

Ministers from Argentina, Australia and Egypt also attended the talks, as well as officials from bodies including the African Union, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Bank.

While recession has cooled soaring prices, officials say it offers only temporary respite while activists complain that only a fraction of the US$22 billion (S$33 billion) in aid announced at an FAO summit in Rome last June has been paid. -- AFP