DUBAI

Continuing rising food prices could cause unrest and political instability worldwide, the UN's top humanitarian official warned yesterday.

John Holmes, the undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief co-ordinator, made his remarks at a conference in Dubai addressing challenges to humanitarian work.

"The security implications (of the food crisis) should also not be underestimated as food riots are already being reported across the globe," he said.

"Current food price trends are likely to increase sharply both the incidence and depth of food insecurity," he said, noting a 40% average rise worldwide since mid-2007.

Holmes said the biggest challenge to humanitarian work is the effects of climate change and the resulting "extreme weather" which has doubled the number of recorded disasters from an average of 200 a year to 400 year in the past two decades.

Adding food scarcity and expensive fuel to the mix have made for a very volatile situation, he explained.

One of the factors pushing food prices higher and sparking protests all over the world is more expensive diesel fuel, which is used to transport most of the world's food.

Just on Monday there were riots over food scarcity in Haiti, clashes with police over high prices in northern Egypt and in Jordan UN employees staged a strike for pay raises due to a 50% rise in prices.

John M Powell, the deputy executive director of the UN's World Food Programme emphasised the need for the developed world to help developing countries. "Riots today mean you need a solution tomorrow," Powell said.

In the past natural disasters, wars and ethnic conflict made the rural areas most vulnerable to hunger. Now the most vulnerable live in the cities, Powell said. "They see food on the shelves but they cannot afford to buy it," said Powell, calling urban poverty the "new face of hunger".-AP