German minister calls for biofuel rethink over rising food prices

Washington - German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said Saturday in Washington ahead of a World Bank meeting that the world needed to reconsider the use of biofuels amid skyrocketing food prices. "The targets for (fuel) blends must be put to the test," she said ahead of the spring meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the US capital. Increasing production of biofuels was 30 to 70 per cent responsible for the rapid rise in food prices, she said. Dearer food was "a danger for growth, combatting poverty, stability and peace in the world," she said. High prices for food had led to riots, looting and violence in many mainly poor countries. 

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