Food crisis: World Bank offers $1.2bn food aid

The World Bank is to offer immediate financial help to countries worst hit by sharp rises in food prices as part of a $1.2bn (£608m) assistance package. Grants worth a total of $200m are being set aside for 'high priority' countries most at risk from acute hunger. Haiti and Liberia will get $10m each to feed their most vulnerable people while Djibouti will receive $5m. The World Bank says 100 million people could be impoverished by the rising cost and scarcer availability of food. It has also identified Togo, Yemen and Tajikistan as being in need of immediate assistance following recent needs assessments. On Friday, representatives from 26 Latin American and Caribbean countries will also meet in Caracas, Venezuela, to discuss concerns over the rising cost of food.