The signing of a regional agreement on food sovereignty and security is the response by the Bolivarian Alternative of the Peoples of Our Americas ''ALBA'' to the current food crisis, said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during the extraordinary summit of the regional integration bloc, held in Caracas.

The agreement was signed by Presidents Hugo Chavez, of Venezuela; Evo Morales, of Bolivia; Daniel Ortega, of Nicaragua, and Cuban Vice- president Carlos Lage, PL reported.

The ALBA accord stipulates the implementation of cooperation programs aimed at comprehensively developing agricultural and industrial sectors to boost the production of cereals like rice and corn, oil-containing beans, meat and milk. The initiative also includes the assessment of resources like water and watering systems, as well as others that may be considered by the signatory countries, said Chavez.

The agreement reached by the ALBA member countries also favors the setting up of a food commercialization network and includes a joint commitment to create a fund with a 100-million-dollar initial capital to allow the implementation of the programs and plans with the initiative.

Nicaraguas President Daniel Ortega said the food issue is crucial for the future of Latin American nations, particularly for the impoverished ones; Ortega reiterated that the ALBA members have considered the significance of addressing the issue even at a regional level and in that regards Managua will host a meeting of agriculture ministers.

The Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our Americas (by its Spanish acronyms meaning DAWN in English) was born as a regional integration project to counter the already failed US-led Free Trade Area for the Americas (FTAA). Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Dominica are members of the regional initiative.

(www.cubanews.ain.cu)