ROME: Representatives at the Food and Agriculture Organization vote this weekend to give the largest UN agency its first new chief in almost two decades — an election that comes at a time of critically high food prices and malnutrition across the world. Six candidates from as many nations are vying for the top job at the Rome-based agency, but the race is likely to come down to a battle between two men: a Brazilian who had a leading role in his country's campaign against poverty and hunger and a Spaniard who has served as his nation's top diplomat. The new chief will succeed Jacques Diouf of Senegal, who was first elected in 1993, a long tenure that sparked reforms limiting the mandates of the secretary-general. Any new chief will have a tough challenge trying to eradicate world hunger at a time when food prices remain high, putting the lives of millions at further risk and raising fears of a repeat of the high-price-driven social unrest of 2007-2008. The FAO's food price index hit an all-time high in February. It has since decreased slightly, though experts warn the prices remain far too high for many poor communities. The agency put the number of hungry people in 2010 at 925 million, the overwhelming majority living in developing countries.
