Developing nations relying on food imports to be 'hit hardest by international price spike'

London, Aug 9 (ANI): Developing countries that depend heavily on food imports, will be hardest hit by the international price spike, a report has warned.

Charities warned ahead of a world hunger summit in London that severe droughts in the United States and Russia, and monsoons in India, have wiped out crops, leading to a doubling of the cost of wheat in two months and record prices for corn and soya.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who will host the summit at Downing Street, will be told that developing nations will be affected the most by price hikes, The Independent reports.

But charities pointed out that they face an immediate crisis that threatens to stretch their resources to breaking point, with severe food shortages facing over 50 million people in Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Yemen.

According to the paper, they are reporting that starving children in sub-Saharan Africa are eating roots to survive, while in Yemen families are being forced to marry off young daughters to reduce the number of mouths to feed.

Oxfam said millions of people who are currently 'just getting by' will start going hungry unless urgent action is taken, the paper said.

"Short-term action alone is not enough," the paper quoted Max Lawson, Oxfam's Head of Policy, as saying.

"The scale of current and recent crises shows there is something fundamentally wrong with the way we produce and distribute food - we cannot keep relying on humanitarian agencies to pick up the pieces," he added.

According to the paper, Save the Children warned that a sharp price rise would push millions more children into hunger as many of the world's poorest families already spend two-thirds of their income on basic staples. (ANI)