The head of the United Nations World Food Program, Josette Sheeran, Tuesday said the current food price crisis is the first global hunger emergency. VOA's Barry Wood reports that Sheeran called for cooperative action to alleviate the problem.

Speaking at Washington's Peterson Institute, Sheeran said the increase in food prices is costing the lives of 250,000 people every 10 days. Up to 100 million people are being pushed back into poverty by what has been often a doubling of food prices over the past year. Sheeran, who heads the Rome-based World Food Program, said the world's poorest are the most vulnerable. ... Read full article