Skyrocketing prices of basic staples have put nearly 3 billion people - half of humanity - who live on less than 2 dollars a day, in the throes of growing hunger and poverty.

Current solutions being proposed will only further intensify the crisis by increasing developing countries' dependence on imports and strengthening the power of multinational agribusiness in food and agriculture markets.

The international financial institutions are simply using the current crisis to push through free trade rules that have exacerbated hunger. But the real solution is food sovereignty: the right of the world's small farmers to grow for local markets and the right of consumers to gain access to healthy, local foods.