The head of the World Bank Robert Zoellick has said that the rapid rise in food prices could potentially push over 100 million people further into poverty. This warning follows a statement from The International Monetary Fund which said that hundreds of thousands of people were at risk from starvation.

Food prices have risen sharply over the past 6 months due to poor weather in some countries coupled with bigger demand and an increase in land being used to grow crops for transport fuels.

Recent restrictions on rice exports have been put on major producers such as China, India and Egypt, hitting importers like the Philippines, Bangladesh and Afghanistan hard.

"We have to put out money where our mouth is now so that we can put food into hungry mouths," Mr Zoellick said.