Oxfam launched an urgent appeal to mark UN World Food Day Thursday, saying the financial crisis had sent food costs soaring and the global total of people in hunger to nearly one billion people. The British-based aid and development charity said rising food prices had pushed an extra 119 million people into hunger, meaning 967 million people were now living below the hunger line.
The charities that provide food, medicine and other relief on the ground say cutbacks have already started, but it will take months or more before the full impact is felt in the poorest countries of Africa, Latin America and Asia, wire services reported. (20 images)
A Pakistani woman carries a subsidized flour sack in a government store on the eve of the World Food Day in Peshawar, Pakistan. World food security, the challenges of climate change and bioenergy, is
the theme of this year's World Food Day which is observed on Thursday. AP / Mohammad Sajjad
Indian workers are seen silhouetted as they load rice sacks onto a truck at a wholesale wheat and rice market on the eve of World Food Day in Amritsar, India on Wednesday. AP / Altaf Qadri
A Pakistani girl waits for customers as she sells tomatoes in a market on the eve of the World Food Day in Lahore, Pakistan, on Wednesday. AP/ Khalid Tanveer
Indian workers fill export quality refined rice into bags at a rice processing factory, on the eve of World Food Day, at Khasa, on the outskirts of Amritsar, India on Wednesday. AP / Altaf Qadri
An Indian worker winnows paddy at a wholesale wheat and rice market on the eve of World Food Day in Amritsar, India, Wednesday. AP / Altaf Qadri
An Indian worker winnows paddy at a wholesale wheat and rice market on the eve of World Food Day in Amritsar, India on Wednesday. AP / Altaf Qadri
Indian men crowd at a local cafeteria on the eve of the World Food Day in Bangalore, India on Wednesday. AP / Aijaz Rahi
A worker looks on as others unload sacks of rice from a truck at a rice processing factory on the eve of World Food Day at Khasa, on the outskirts of Amritsar, India on Wednesday. AP / Altaf Qadri
A Pakistani man eats his donated food in a food distribution center on the eve of the World Food Day in Islamabad, Pakistan. AP / Emilio Morenatti
A Pakistani man reads the Quran or holy book as he waits for customer at his fruit stall on the eve of the World Food Day in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. AP / Emilio Morenatti
Pakistani men eat donated food in a food distribution center on the eve of the World Food Day in Islamabad, Pakistan. AP / Emilio Morenatti
Pakistani men line up as they wait for their subsidized food in a government store on the eve of the World Food Day in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Tuesday. AP / Mohammad Sajjad
Pakistani men line up as they wait for their donated food in a food distribution center on the eve of the World Food Day in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. AP / Emilio Morenatti
Pakistani poor people jostle to get free food distributed at a shine in Islamabad, Pakistan on Wednesday. AP / B.K. Bangash
Pakistani people receive their donated food in a food distribution center on the eve of the World Food Day in Lahore, Pakistan, on Wednesday. AP / Khalid Tanveer
Pakistani children eat their lunch on the eve of the World Food Day in a slum in Karachi, Pakistan, on Wednesday. AP / Fareed Khan
A Pakistani woman prepares food for her family on the eve of the World Food Day in a slum in Karachi, Pakistan, on Wednesday. AP / Fareed Khan
A Pakistani boy carries bananas in a fruit market on the eve of the World Food Day in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Tuesday. AP / Mohammad Sajjad
Pakistani men line up as they wait for their donated food in a food distribution center on the eve of the World Food Day in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on Tuesday. AP / Emilio Morenatti
A Pakistani boy sits as men line up waiting for their donated food in a food distribution center on the eve of the World Food Day in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on Tuesday. AP / Emilio Morenatti
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