June 6 (Bloomberg) -- World leaders overcame disputes over biofuels and last-minute objections by Argentina, pledging to boost spending on agriculture in developing countries and ease trade restrictions to counter hunger and soaring food prices.

Delegates from 181 nations at a UN-sponsored Food Security Summit in Rome closed a three-day meeting late yesterday with promises to push the United Nations' 12-year-old pledge to halve the number of malnourished people, now 860 million, by 2015 and help farmers from developing countries produce for international markets.

``I think that we have achieved the results that we were hoping for,'' said Jacques Diouf, director general of the FAO. ``This should enable us to resolve some of the most important problems of our times: the problem of hunger in the world, the problem of food production in the world, the problem of the demand for food products.''

UN officials called the meeting a success for focusing attention on food prices ahead of a meeting of leaders of the Group of Eight nations in Japan next month. Other participants were more skeptical, saying the discussions resulted in an essentially meaningless statement.

``These are political ceremonies and after that, nothing is done,'' said Rabelais Yankam Njomou, an agricultural economist at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Cameroon. ``I don't want to say that this is a waste of time, but it is near that, it is not far from a waste of time.''

Ban's Target

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the world needed to invest as much as $20 billion a year on agriculture to tackle a 60 percent rise in food prices over the past 18 months that has sparked riots in more than 30 countries. During the conference 13 countries pledged $5.8 billion in additional aid.

``We firmly resolve to use all means to alleviate the suffering caused by the current crisis, to stimulate food production and to increase investment in agriculture, to address obstacles to food access and to use the planet's resources, for present and future generations,'' the final declaration said.

Passage of the final statement was delayed for four hours last night after Argentina opposed a reference to minimizing ``restrictive'' measures, which could be taken as a criticism of the export taxes the government imposed on some grains and oilseeds that has triggered three months of protests by farmers.

Biofuels Compromise

Debate over biofuels was the focus of the much of the discord, resulting in a compromise in the declaration that dropped calls for more controls.

The U.S. is the world's biggest producer of ethanol from corn, and Brazil, the top maker of the fuel from sugar cane. The U.S. and the European Union have pledged to expand biofuel production to combat global warming and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

The diversion of land to the cultivation of crops for ethanol production has contributed about 30 percent of the rise in food prices, the Washington-based International Food Policy Research has said. The U.S. has put the figure at less than 3 percent.

Biofuel use must be sustainable and take into account the need to achieve global food security, the statement said.

The U.S. was ``satisfied'' with the final language on biofuels agreed to by delegates at the UN-sponsored World Food Summit, said Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer.

`Green Revolution'

During the meeting, three UN agencies and a foundation headed by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan agreed to work together to boost production among small farmers to spark a ``green revolution'' in Africa.

The agreement aims to help small farmers increase their incomes by selling food locally and to the UN for its relief efforts in Africa, said Annan, whose foundation, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, is backed by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

``Hunger is on the march now,'' World Food Programme Executive Director Josette Sheeran said. ``This really is not acceptable in a world where we know how to produce food.''

Food output per person in Africa has fallen for the past 30 years, and agriculture productivity is a quarter of the world average, according to the UN.

The food price surge was sparked by bad weather, growing demand for grain-fed meat in Asia, market speculation, declining stocks and the push to grow corn for ethanol have contributed to the surge.

Many African governments are failing to meet their own commitment to spend 10 percent of their national budgets on farming, South Africa's agriculture minister, Lulu Xingwana, said in an interview.

``All of us have not put our resources where our mouths are, both our national governments and the international community,'' she said. ``But through this conference we have been able to raise awareness.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Karl Maier in Rome at kmaier2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 6, 2008 02:44 EDT