WFP says faces 'moment of distress' to feed hungry

By Haitham Haddadin

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. World Food Program said on Monday it was facing a "moment of distress" in feeding the world's hungry, with billions of dollars needed amid a severe funding shortfall due to the global financial crisis.

"It is critical that people understand the extent of the problem," WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran told reporters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

"We need to raise about five, six billion dollars right now with the crisis," said Sheeran, whose Rome-based WFP is voluntarily funded.

The number of hungry people will pass 1 billion this year for the first time, WFP said this month, adding it only had $2.6 billion in confirmed funding for its $6.7 billion 2009 budget.

"We are in the midst of a hunger crisis. The numbers are increasing day to day," Sheeran said. "We are really in a moment of distress for the world's hungry."

Global recession and stubbornly high commodity prices across much of the developing world leave food beyond the reach of the world's poorest, and climate change and weather-related disasters may spread misery, the agency says.

The Group of Eight wealthy nations said at a July summit in L'Aquila, Italy, it will spend $20 billion over three years to spur agricultural investment in poorer states to fight hunger.

Sheeran said that "historic commitment ... must be followed by concrete actions necessary to ensure the world produces enough food and all people have enough to eat."