TO HAVE,..... AND TO HAVE NOT.

ROME — Pope Benedict XVI decried the steadily worsening tragedy of world hunger on Monday after a global summit rebuffed a U.N. call to commit billions of dollars a year for a new strategy to help poor countries feed themselves. The meeting at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization did unite nearly 200 countries behind a pledge to increase aid to farmers in poor countries to help the developing world lessen its dependence on foreign food aid. Only hours after the threeday summit began, some 60 heads of state and dozens of ministers rejected the U.N.s call to commit $44 billion annually for agricultural development in those nations. The final declaration also omitted a pledge, sought by the United Nations, to eradicate hunger by 2025. Hunger is the most cruel and concrete sign of poverty, Benedict told the delegates after the document was approved. Opulence and waste are no longer acceptable when the tragedy of hunger is assuming ever greater proportions. The last previous papal appearance at a food summit in Rome was in 1996 by Pope John Paul II. U.N. officials said roughly 1 billion people dont get enough to eat. As the conference opened, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told participants that it was unacceptable that so many go hungry even though the world has enough food. Our job is not just to feed the hungry, but to empower the hungry to feed themselves, he said. FAO, which is hosting the conference at its headquarters, said the share of international aid that is allocated to agriculture has steadily declined over the last three decades. Helping the hungry has largely involved rich countries sending food assistance rather than technology, irrigation help, fertilizer or high-yield seed. While the summit agreed on the need to increase FAOs share of international aid, it did not allocate the $44 billion annually — 17 percent of overall foreign aid — the FAO said is necessary to feed a population that is expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050. While content with the general policy shift, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf was frustrated by the lack of specifi cs. I am not satisfied that some of the concrete proposals I made were not accepted, he told reporters. There was no consensus on this and I regret it. Reactions mixed Humanitarian groups claimed the summit had largely failed and Greenpeace called the declaration empty rhetoric. FAOs Assistant Director-General Alexander Mueller said governments kept away from firm commitments due to the economic crisis and because they expect they will need to channel money to the developing world at next months summit on climate change in Copenhagen, Denmark. Delegates from the United States, the worlds No. 1 food donor, said that wealthy nations should follow the specific needs of each recipient country rather than allocate a fixed amount to agriculture. What this declaration represents is a signifi cant change — not just an acknowledgment of a problem but an articulation of solutions, with a focus on country-led programs and strategies, said Alonzo Fulgham, the head of the U.S. delegation. Kanayo Nwanze, the president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, said poor countries cant expect the rest of the world to come up with all the money they need and those nations should instead invest a greater share of their own public funds in the sector. We cannot expect international assistance to move countries out of poverty, out of hunger, he said.