NAIROBI: The world will face social upheaval and environmental disasters if agriculture is not radically reformed to better serve the poor.

The warning in the report by the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development comes amid growing discontent among the poorest over rising food prices.

"Continuing with current trends in production and distribution would exhaust our resources and put our children's future in jeopardy," said the UN-sponsored report yesterday, which was compiled by about 400 international experts.

"And the increasingly globalised food market and ever-increasing food imports mean that no country can assume itself to be immune to the implications," it said.

"Often the poorest of the poor have gained little or nothing, and 850 million people are still hungry or malnourished with an additional four million more joining their ranks annually," said the report.

The 64-nation panel is calling on farmers to favour local production, reduce dependency on fossil fuels and use natural processes.

"Opening national markets to international competition can offer economic benefits but can lead to long term negative effects on poverty alleviation, food security and the environment without basic national institutions and infrastructure being place," the report said.

There have been food-related riots in Haiti and protests in Cameroon, Niger and Burkina Faso in Africa; Egypt, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The UN food agency will need to make "heartbreaking" choices about its emergency aid unless governments donate more money, a spokeswoman said. Sharp rises in the price meant many people "already living on the razor's edge" may lose access to critical food aid.

WFP received just $14 million (BD5m) after appealing for an extra $500m (BD189m) to cope with higher food prices.