UNSG Ban Ki-moon (L), Italian Senate Pres. Renato Schifani (R) at the inaugural ceremony of World Summit on Food Security, Rome, 16 Nov 2009The United Nations has opened a three-day summit on food security, vowing to take "urgent action" to eliminate global hunger affecting than one billion people worldwide.

However, delegates meeting in Rome failed to pledge the $44 billion in aid sought by the the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and a final summit declaration approved Monday promises no new financial commitments. Analysts say the final declaration also omits any mention of a U.N. target date of 2025 for eradicating world hunger.

In a keynote address, U.N. Secretary-General ban Ki-moon told some 60 heads of state and government that there can be no food security without climate security.  

He said global food demands by mid-century will increase by 70 percent, and that increasingly extreme and unpredictable weather patterns will threaten farm output in poor countries.

Mr. Ban also urged leaders at an upcoming climate summit in Copenhagen to produce "real results" with specific commitments for reducing carbon emissions that he said are responsible for rising global temperatures.

Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi called for an end to the purchase of African farmland by rich countries, saying African people are being cheated out of their right to farm. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and controversial Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe are also attending.

In July, the Group of Eight industrialized nations pledged $20 billion over the next three years for farmers at this year's summit in Italy. The summit declaration approved Monday urges those countries to follow through on their financial commitments.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.