A UN food agency has said that an impending food crisis is not in sight, although grain prices in the international market have surged over the past few months.

Nevertheless, the Rome-based Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has warned that the recent price volatility is posing a "major threat" to the global food security.

Major threat

Wheat prices in the international market have surged by 60-80 percent since July, and maize prices rose by about 40 percent, arousing concerns over the possibility of a repeat of the 2008 world food crisis.

However, there is "no indication of an impending world food crisis," FAO said in a statement in late September.

World cereal output this year is forecast to be about 2.239 billion tons, while global consumption in 2010/2011 would be 2.248 billion tons, the statement said, adding that along with carry-over stocks, cereal supply and demand appeared "sufficiently in balance."

The current grain prices are still one third lower than their 2008 peak, it said.

The 2010/2011 stock-consumption ratio will be 23 percent, higher than the 19.6 percent for 2007/2008, the lowest in 30 years.

Yet, the FAO warned that in spite of lower volumes of cereal imports by 77 low-income food deficit countries this season, their import bill is forecast to increase by 8 percent year on year to 27.8 billion dollars.

"The anticipated increase in the import bill would be on account of higher prices of wheat and coarse grains," said the FAO.

FAO statistics show a total of 925 million people around the world are still in hunger, which the UN unit said is "unacceptably high."

"With a child dying every six seconds because of undernourishment related problems, hunger remains the world's largest tragedy and scandal," FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said.

If grain prices continue to rise, efforts to eradicate hunger would be dented, he warned.