Paris, April 11 - Production of food must take precedence globally over biofuels as prices surge and the threat of famine grows, France's farm minister said on Friday, calling for a European Union initiative on world supplies.
"Absolute priority must be given to agricultural production for food," French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier told Reuters, saying France would unveil proposals at next Monday's European Union Agriculture council.
Barnier declined to give details of the French initiative.
He also urged countries to send their promised funding to the United Nations' World Food Programme, which is still missing a total of 600 million euros ($949 million).
The recent surge in agricultural prices -- including wheat, maize and rice -- has increased worries that expensive food prices could lead to widespread famine in poor countries. Rising prices have also sparked rioting in several countries.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Wednesday called for a coordinated response led by the United Nations, World Bank and International Monetary Fund to address soaring food prices.
Brown also said he was concerned that the use of biofuels had "aggravated" demand for food and feed.
The record highs hit earlier this year were mainly linked to rising demand in fast-developing countries such as China and India, the use of crops for biofuels, a long drought in Australia and speculation on futures markets.
NOT EUROPE'S FAULT
With Asian demand unlikely to drop in the coming years, weather disasters impossible to predict and control, all eyes are turning to the production of biofuels which consumes significant amounts of grains and oilseeds that could be used for food. Asked whether France, the second-largest biofuel producer in Europe after Germany, would change its ambitious policy that biofuels account for 7 percent of total fuel consumption by 2010, Barnier repeated that biofuel output was only using 7 percent of French fields.
"It's not Europe that destabilises global food markets," he said, pointing to other large biofuel makers.
At least a quarter of the U.S. corn crop and more than half of Brazil's sugar cane crop is used for ethanol production.
European Commission's spokesman for agriculture, Michael Mann, echoed Barnier's comments and said that Europe as a whole was only using 2 percent of its cereals production for biofuels.
"So they do not contribute significantly to higher food prices in the European context," contrary to the United States where the rush to ethanol has a major influence on prices, he said.