Hunger and starvation are looming large over the globe and there is no time to tackle the situation. The way to go is to change the farming practices.
If the world wants to tide over the present crisis, the farmers must shift their agriculture methods to confront soaring food prices that threaten to drive millions of poor people around the world into even deeper poverty.
The International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development said in its study: "Business as usual is no longer an option."
The study group was formed in 2002 by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Bank. Its findings were released at a moment of mounting alarm at the social and political upheavals that world leaders fear could be triggered by rising food prices.
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in weekend meetings in Washington appealed for measures to avert a global food crisis.
Basic foodstuff prices have all risen sharply in recent months, sparking violent protests in many countries, including Egypt, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Madagascar, the Philippines and Indonesia.
The Unesco statement said that since March 2007 prices for soybeans have risen 87% and those for wheat 130% at a time when global grain stores are at their lowest levels on record.
It attributed the trend to increased demand in emerging market powerhouses China and India as well as the alternative use of corn and soybeans for biofuels.
Unesco said the report urged that agricultural science pay greater attention to safeguarding natural resources and to promoting 'agro-ecological' practices, such as the use of natural fertilisers and traditional seeds and reducing the distance between the farm and the consumer.
The rising cost of grain, soy, rice and other basic foodstuffs is a multi-faceted challenge for policymakers. It is stymieing the already slow progress on poverty reduction by raising the cost of essential goods. It is pitting environmental goals of increased use of biofuels against the need to protect the most vulnerable.
And, at a time when policymakers are increasingly concerned about the impact of the credit crisis on growth, it is restricting central banks' room for maneuver by raising already-significant inflationary pressures.
A monster has suddenly stepped on the political stage, German finance minister Peer Steinbrueck said in Washington last week, adding that he fears that higher prices won't be a passing phenomenon.
At a press conference, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said the international community can and must address the problem, saying "there's no time to lose".
Darling said part of the problem comes from the encouragement of biofuels, which diverts land and agricultural production away from food production.
Wrapped up in that are the subsidies that developed nations, not least the US, give their farmers to grow the crops used for biofuels. "What we cannot do is allow the market to become so distorted that... it's pushing up food prices which is causing major problems elsewhere," Darling said.
The issue also stood at the heart of World Bank president Robert Zoellick's message on Sunday. Zoellick said a doubling of food prices over the last three years could push 100 million low-income people deeper into poverty.
He urged governments to step up their commitments to a $500 million fund to address emergency food needs, part of a New Deal for Global Food Policy that Zoellick has called for. And he welcomed the fact that the Group of Eight finance ministers' meeting in Japan will address the issue.
"But, frankly speaking, the G8 meeting is in June and we cannot wait for that. We have to put our money where our mouth is now, so that we can put food into hungry mouths. It is as stark as that," Zoellick said.
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