Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Friday urged industrialized nations to help African countries improve their agricultural output by sharing technical knowhow and by cutting their agricultural subsidies.
"Half the people (in Africa) are suffering from malnutrition . . . and the crucial elements are foreign assistance, development assistance and to let African people improve their production of their own food," Carter told a symposium at the United Nations University in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
While international attention is focused on conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East, as well as on North Korean's suspected nuclear program, Carter stressed that industrialized nations also need to focus on alleviating hunger in Africa.