> The three-day conference held by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization went bananas to say the least, and didn’t do much to help solve the root of the problem; but that didn’t hurt the exchange traded funds (ETFs) too much.

There was a lot of banter about what caused high food prices; was it biofuels, protective tariffs, soaring oil prices, or the distortion of subsidies? There was not enough talk about donors developing a new type of aid program focused on helping agriculture in poor countries rather than have it shipped around the globe, reports Elisabeth Rosenthal and Andrew Martin on Boston.com.

Once the microphones opened, the powerful politicians spoke about economics and politics and complained about protectionism, though not their own, and did plenty of finger-pointing. The issue remains for these divided forces to unify and figure out how to feed one billion starving people.

The era of food aid is over and it is time to put on our thinking caps and decide how these people will sustain. Biotechnology and agriculture can help by coming together, but first people must do so.

Some ETFs set to help out:

• PowerShares Dynamic Biotech (PBE)
• SPDR Biotech (XBI)
• iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (IBB)
• Market Vectors Global Agribusiness (DBA)
  

Tags | Agriculture, Biotechnology, DBA, GUR