Massive production of biofuels is "a crime against humanity" because of its impact on global food prices, a UN official said Monday on German radio.
"Producing biofuels today is a crime against humanity," UN Special Rapporteur for the Right to Food Jean Ziegler told Bayerischer Runfunk radio.
Using arable land to produce crops for biofuels has reduced surfaces available to grow food, many observers warn.
Ziegler also accused the European Union of agricultural dumping in Africa.
"The EU finances the exports of European agricultural surpluses to Africa ... where they are offered at one half or one third of their (production) price," the UN official charged.
"That completely ruins African agriculture," he added.
"In addition, international market speculation on food commodities must cease," Zielger said.
In recent months, rising food costs have sparked violent protests in Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mauritania, the Philippines and other countries.
In Pakistan and Thailand, army troops have been deployed to avoid the seizure of food from fields and warehouses, while price increases fuelled a general strike in Burkina Faso.
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