A delegation of 19 Korean Via Campesina farmers who are members of the Korean Woman Peasants' Association and the Korean Peasants' League have been detained at the Sapporo airport for more than 24 hours.

More than 600 farmers from Nouminren, the Japan's Family Farmer's Movement member of La Via Campesina, and about 100 farmers from around the world will gather in Hokkaido during the G8 summit.

Some 237 major NGOs, trade unions, farmers' organizations and social movements from nearly fifty countries have said that the Doha Round, as is currently envisioned, will further intensify the global food crisis by making food prices more volatile.

The food crisis being experienced in Africa is due to the failure of three decades of market deregulation by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation's agricultural sector development model, a group of international NGOs have stated.

More than 50 farmers leaders, men and women from around the world will join hundreds of Indonesian farmers to debate and promote the right of small producers to farm, to eat and to feed their communities. Jakarta, Indonesia, from June 19 to 25, 2008.

The Summit on soaring food prices, convened by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), concluded with the adoption by acclamation of a declaration calling on the international community to increase assistance for developing countries, in particular the least developed countries and those that are most negatively affected by high food prices.

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has reiterated its call on governments and world institutions to take far-reaching measures to guarantee food security for all.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said it will provide $1.2 billion in additional food aid in the 62 countries hit hardest by the current crisis resulting from the surge in food and fuel prices.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was pleased by the strong commitment expressed by countries gathered in Rome to help alleviate the plight of the hundreds of millions of hungry people around the globe.

Acute humanitarian needs must be met in order to stem the crisis caused by soaring food prices, but it was also important to ensure adequate supplies for the future through increased agricultural production, Léo Mérorès, President of the Economic and Social Council, told a special session of that body on Tuesday, 20 May.