Italian farmers ride tractors as they parade in downtown Rome, Monday, Nov. 16, 2009, the start of the UN World Summit on Food Security in Rome, to call attention to the plight of farmers, the impact of the financial crisis on agriculture and to ask for fair prices. In the background St. John at the Latheran Basilica. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

Government leaders at a United Nations meeting in Rome have pledged to increase agricultural aid to help poor countries feed themselves, but did not set a target amount or timeframe for action.

The declaration Monday at the World Summit on Food Security aims to "halt immediately the increase in -- and to significantly reduce -- the number of people suffering from hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity."

The lack of specifics in the declaration falls short of the goals of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, which proposed that the world spend $44 billion a year on agricultural aid and set a deadline of 2025 to eradicate hunger. Instead, the conference promised "action towards sustainably eradicating hunger at the earliest possible date."

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What should be done to eliminate hunger, which afflicts an estimated one billion people? Do you think the Food and Agriculture Organization's hope for 2025 as a deadline to eradicate hunger was reasonable?