MANILA (AFP)--A senior UN official declared Friday that the world is gripped
by a food crisis after meeting with the Philippine president to discuss the
impact of soaring prices, which have triggered unrest in dozens of countries.

  "There is a world food crisis," said Kevin Cleaver, an assistant president in
a department of the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development, who met
with President Gloria Arroyo in Manila.

  The Philippines is one of the world's largest rice importers, and the
government is striving to avoid shortages as worldwide concern grows about
sharp increases in food prices.

  Cleaver said that "in some 33 countries there is now civil disturbance, food
riots caused by food shortages and higher prices. This is one of the subjects
we discussed."

  Analysts have warned that higher prices could trigger unrest in the
Philippines, following rioting in countries such as Haiti and Egypt.

  Cleaver said people were suffering because the "price of rice and food has
increased, and we discussed a little bit what to do about that," adding he and
Arroyo had agreed the solution was to ramp up production.

  Arroyo has pledged to keep supplies of the staple grain available to every
Filipino, drafting in the military to distribute supplies and cracking down on
looters and hoarders.

  The president said the government had a plan for better irrigation
facilities, according to Cleaver. That would help in the coming year but the
shorter-term problem was more difficult to cure, he said.

  He said that the world had been taken by surprise because "most people have
been complacent," but said governments can take steps to avoid starvation.

  Cleaver said the UN agency would finance a $66-million agricultural and rural
development programme for two of the poorest regions in the Philippines.

  The International Rice Research Institute warned Friday that  prices were
likely to keep rising for some time as production fails to keep up with soaring
demand.