RAWALPINDI, Oct 15: The World Food Day is being observed on Thursday in the backdrop of high food prices which are not only putting at greater risk the hungry but also those on the brink of poverty in addition to the number of undernourished people currently estimated at more than 923 million.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has called upon governments to avoid reducing aid to the agriculture of developing countries and introducing protectionist trade measures in response to the unfolding global financial crisis.

FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf in a statement warned that such steps could increase the risk of another food crisis occurring next year.