The world’s farmers produce about a billion tons of rice every year but some 1 billion poor people are in danger of no longer being able to afford it, says the Asian Development Bank. The Bank’s director says most of those people live in Asia where gains against crisis are being undermined by the food crisis. The Asian Development Bank is made up of 67 countries. In Madrid the bank announced an emergency solution: credit in the form of soft loans. The Director says rice must be subsidized immediately. The Bank is opposed to a plan of creating a rice cartel similar to OPEC and thinks soft loans are the best method at least in the short term.