As I have been reporting here on Nicaragua Hope, increasing cost of food is hitting poor Latin American countries hard. Securing a reliable food supply is increasingly difficult given an increase in global population, thirst for alternative fuels (corn is used to make ethanol fuels), and surging fuel cost.

Just yesterday, the UN’s World Food Programme announced that the cost of feeding the world’s poor has jumped 40% and if donors don’t help support the program, it will have to scale back operations. This would then affect other compassionate organizations like World Vision who depend on the WFP for their supply.

Experts are calling this a global food crisis and today Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua (also known as ALBA) took steps to help ensure their countries have enough to eat. In a meeting today in Caracas, leaders of their respective countries pledged $105 million USD to help bolster their food supply from the oncoming storm. This money will also help increase local production of staples like beans and rice which can help the economy once these countries emerge from the other side.

Technorati Tags: Latin America, global food crisis, Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, ALBA

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