ROME - High food prices have pushed the number of hungry people in the world close to 1 billion, a United Nations agency said yesterday.

The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation said in a report that 40 million people had fallen into hunger this year, bringing the number
of needy to 963 million.

"For millions of people in developing countries, eating the minimum
amount of food every day to live an active and healthy life is a distant dream," said Hafez Ghanem, the organisation's Assistant Director-General.

Even though prices of major cereals fell by over 50 per cent from their peaks earlier this year, they remained high compared with previous years, the agency said.

Landless and female-headed households were most vulnerable to rises in
food prices, the agency said.

According to the report, nearly two-thirds of the world's hungry live in Asia, while in sub-Saharan Africa one person in three is chronically hungry.

The agency warned that reduced demand in industrialised countries
could threaten exporters in developing countries.

Investments and development aid are also at risk, the agency said.

- AP