Behind the food riots: a debate on how best to farm

India on Thursday suspended futures trading in four major commodities, including soybean oil, chick peas and potatoes, in a bid to tame rising inflation driven largely by the soaring cost of food.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates 820 million people go hungry in the developing world, and Zoellick says the crisis could force as many as 100 million people deeper into poverty.

Despite calls for investment in farming, many governments seem stuck in crisis mode.

Deadly riots have broken out from Bangladesh to Egypt to Burkina Faso. In Haiti, they cost the prime minister his job. At least 34 countries have seen protests in recent months, according to the U.N.'s World Food Program.

"Rice fever" has led nations in Asia to restrict exports and subsidize locally grown rice. Some leaders in Latin America are subsidizing food or placing punitive export taxes on food commodities to control inflation.

So how does the world get out of this mess?

U.N. agencies recommend truly leveling the playing field by cutting subsidies to huge agricultural companies, ending export bans, lowering tariffs and increasing investment in small-scale agriculture, one farm at a time.

"This could be a window of opportunity for governments to relaunch the small-farming sector and traditional farming," said Fernando Soto, the FAO's policy chief for Latin America and the Caribbean.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says a "green revolution" in Africa, fueled by new techniques and agricultural investment, could double African food production in just a few years for "a relatively modest" $8 billion to $10 billion a year.

The U.S. is already the world's largest provider of food aid -$2.1 billion last year -and Bush has asked Congress to approve an extra $770 million in response to the crisis.