Rising grain, meat and sugar prices pose a threat to the nearly one billion people who are undernourished, with global hunger still above pre-economic crisis levels despite the first decline in 15 years in 2010. "The recent increase in food prices, if it persists, will create additional obstacles in the fight to further reduce hunger," Reuters quoted the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization as saying in a report on Tuesday. The FAO estimates that 925 million people are undernourished in 2010, a decline from 1.023 billion in 2009 due to a more favourable economic environment, but still higher than before the economic crisis of 2008/09. The number of hungry people in the world had been rising for more than a decade, reaching a record spike in 2009 triggered by the economic crisis and high domestic food prices in several developing countries. "Food prices in most low-income, food-deficit countries remain above the pre-crisis level, negatively affecting access to food by vulnerable populations," the FAO said. Riots in Mozambique earlier this month in which 13 people were killed, showed the potential dangers for governments if food prices start to rise. A 30 percent rise in the price of bread -- linked to soaring global wheat prices -- had to be quickly reversed. FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf, however, played down the prospects for a repeat of the 2007/08 food crisis, pointing to a rise in global stocks of cereals after the two largest wheat crops in history in 2008 and 2009.
