The UN is calling for a 50 percent increase in food production over the next two decades to meet rising global demand. The call came at a gathering of world leaders in Rome on the world food crisis. A major divide could come down to the issue of biofuels. Biofuels like ethanol raise food prices by diverting crops to produce fuel rather than food. Major biofuel producers, including the United States and Brazil, are rejecting calls to limit biofuel production. On Monday, the US delegation said biofuels will account for only two or three percent of an estimated 40 percent rise in food prices this year. But groups including the UN and International Monetary Fund have warned biofuels have driven up food prices anywhere between 15 to more than 30 percent. Farida Chapman of the aid group Oxfam said biofuel proponents are ignoring overwhelming evidence.

Farida Chapman: “The meaning is that there is a clear link between biofuels and the poverty of almost 300 million people around the world, according to our estimates. Today these people are being threatened by the use of biofuels, and we are advocating for stopping the biofuels production and for providing immediate assistance to these people.”