Daniel Ortega, the president of Nicaragua, has opened an "emergency meeting" to address food shortages across South and Central America.

Free trade, market forces and farm subsidies in developed nations are contributing to the problem, Ortega told regional agriculture ministers in Managua, the capital, on Saturday.

He also said that the shortages have reached crisis levels and could cause social unrest.

'Social explosion'

Ortega convened the ministers to take measures to address the food crisis, "before we have any possible social explosions".

Central America depends on imported oil and fertilizer to fuel its farms. The rising cost of oil hampers the accessibility of food to impoverished communities.

Malnutrition is common across the region, and soaring oil and grain prices threaten to exacerbate the situation.

The primary aim of the meeting was to develop a production and marketing alliance for regional farm goods.

Also attending were members of the Venezuelan-inspired Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, a trade and aid bloc known as Alba.

On Wednesday, Ortega joined the leaders of Venezuela, Cuba and Bolivia in creating a $100m program to fight rising food costs in South America.

PHOTO CAPTION 

Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega, left, and Agriculture Minister, Ariel Bucardo.

Al-Jazeera