"In the face of food riots around the world like in Africa and Haiti, we really have an emergency," he said.

FAO and other international organizations have called on rich countries to intensify aid to poorer nations. World Bank President Zoellick urged industrial nations to make up a 500-billion-U.S. dollar food gap required by the UN's World Food Program to meet emergency needs.

European Union Development Commissioner Louis Michel promised after meeting with African Union Commission chief Jean Ping that the European Development Funds will boost funding from the current 650 million euros (about one billion U.S. dollars) to 1.2 billion euros (about 1.9 billion dollars) for agriculture and rural development in the poorest nations in Africa.

FAO also urged all governments, especially of the developing countries with food problems, to increase investment on agriculture, improve farming productivity, and make favorable policies to promote agricultural development.

A few days ago, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote a letter to his Japanese counterpart Yasuo Fukuda, whose country is currently chairing the G8, demanding that the impact of bio-fuels on food prices be part of discussions during the summit of the eight most industrialized nations to be held in Japan in July.

On Saturday, Germany's development minister, who is attending the World Bank's meeting held Sunday, called for greater regulation of the global biofuels market to prevent its expansion from driving up food prices.

"It is unacceptable for the export of agrofuels to pose a threat to the supply situation of the very people already living in poverty," Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said.

She said the world needs new rules that balance goals including climate change mitigation, food security and social development.

A development NGO, Oxfam, urged the IMF to work closely with its sister institution, the World Bank, and other organizations to provide developing countries with financial support and policy advice to deal with the food problems.

For future trends of the international food price, the World Bank predicted that the high price will last for a long time due to a strong global demand. After about two years, the food price may drop after a readjusted supply and demand situation, the Bank predicted, but by the year 2015, the general food price will remain above the price level of year 2004.

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2008)