Ms. Nha, her face weathered beyond its 51 years, said her growth was stunted by a childhood of hunger and malnutrition. Just a few decades ago, crop yields here were far lower and diets much worse. Then the widespread use of inexpensive chemical fertilizer, coupled with market reforms, helped power an agricultural explosion here that had already occurred in other parts of the world. Yields of rice and corn rose, and diets grew richer.

THE World Food Program has begun to cut the provision of school meals to some of the world's poorest children as the global crisis over food prices worsens. WFP executive director Josette Sheeran said on Tuesday that the price of basic foods was rising so rapidly that a shortfall in financing for its food relief programs had grown from $US500 million ($A530 million) to $US755 million in less than two months.

Soaring food prices are a "massacre' of the world's poor and are creating a global nutritional crisis, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday, calling it a sign that capitalism is in decline. His comments came only hours after the United Nations' World Food Program called more expensive food a "silent tsunami' that threatens to plunge more than 100 million people on every continent into hunger. "It is a true massacre what is happening in the world,' Chavez said in a televised speech, citing UN statistics about deaths caused by hunger and malnourishment.

Bolivian President Evo Morales on Monday criticized "some South American presidents" for supporting the use of biofuels, which he said are responsible for high food prices and global hunger. Visiting the United Nations while fighting autonomy referendums called by the opposition at home, the Bolivian president said the increased use of farmland for fuel crops was causing a "tremendous increase" in the price of food -- especially of wheat, which has made bread more expensive.

Global food price rises are leading to

A child clings to its mother's beads in this file picture of a famine-hit Ethiopian village.

http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/home.html THE MIDDLE PATH There are many countries with malnourished and starving people; there are also some with overweight and obese people. This

The price of food is soaring. The threat of hunger and malnutrition is growing. Millions of the world's most vulnerable people are at risk. An effective and urgent response is needed.