WB calls for new deal to fight hunger Agence France-Presse . Washington The World Bank on Wednesday called on the international community to mount a wide-ranging fight against hunger as skyrocketing food prices critically threaten the world's poor.

Rising food prices could spread social unrest across Africa after triggering riots in Niger, Senegal, Cameroon and Burkina Faso, African ministers and senior agriculture diplomats have warned. Kanayo Nwanze, the vice-president of the United Nations' International Fund for Agriculture, told a conference in Ethiopia that food riots could become a common feature, particularly after the price of rice has doubled in three months. "The social unrest we have seen in places such as Burkina Faso, Senegal or Cameroon may become common in other places in Africa," Mr Nwanze said.

Food adviser calls it

Dhaka urges developed countries to help check food price hike United News of Bangladesh . New York The foreign adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed, has urged the surplus developed countries to do more to rein in the rising food price.

WB calls for new deal to fight hunger Agence France-Presse . Washington The World Bank on Wednesday called on the international community to mount a wide-ranging fight against hunger as skyrocketing food prices critically threaten the world's poor.

At a time when the Left parties are calling for a ban on futures trading in edible oils, Abhijit Sen, chairman of a committee on futures trading of essential commodities, says such a ban would not hel

Food Prices To Rise For Years, Biofuel Firms Say UK: April 4, 2008 LONDON - Staple food prices will rise for some years, but should eventually fall to historical averages as harvests increase, biofuel company executives said on Thursday. Soaring demand for better quality food from rapidly industrialising emerging markets such as China, supply shortages, increased demand for biofuels, and a surging appetite for food commodities by investment funds, have combined to push prices of basic foods higher and higher in recent months.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick on Wednesday called for a new coordinated global response to deal with spiraling food prices exacerbating shortages, hunger and malnutrition around the globe. Speaking ahead of International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington next week, Zoellick said the global food crisis now required the attention of political leaders in every country, since higher prices and price volatility were likely to stay for some time.

Much like what happened last year, the FCI is unlikely to be able to procure the amount of wheat it needs to.

Governments across the developing world are scrambling to boost farm imports and restrict exports in an attempt to forestall rising food prices and social unrest.