World Bank president Robert Zoellick warned Thursday that rising food prices have reached dangerous heights that pose the biggest threat to the world's poor. "We are in a danger zone because prices have already gone up; stocks for many commodities are relatively low," Zoellick said. The World Bank chief called high and volatile food prices "the biggest threat to the poor around the world."
According to the Bank's food price index released Thursday, global food prices have soared 36 percent from a year ago. The Food Price Watch report estimated that a further 10 percent increase in global prices could drive 10 million more people below the $1.25 a day poverty line. A 30 percent price spike could lead to an additional 34 million poor, on top of the 44 million people pushed into poverty since June 2010 because of price rises. The World Bank estimates there are 1.2 billion people living below the poverty line.