a United Nations agency hit hard some needy people.

UN announces program to help hunger hot spots

A UN agency rolled out a $ 214 million program
Tuesday to help 16 needy places hit hard by high prices for food
and oil, amid a crisis already making it hard for aid groups to
provide enough food for the world's hungry.

The World Food Program said almost 1 billion poor
people around the world are struggling to survive amid the higher
prices. The agency is trying to reach those in critical need of
assistance in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

"Food prices are not abating, and the world's most
vulnerable have exhausted their coping strategies", said Josette
Sheeran, the agency's executive director. "Our action plan is
targeted and customized to help the most vulnerable meet their
urgent needs."
The plan will provide assistance to groups such as
pregnant women, undernourished children and people living in
urban areas affected most by the food crisis.

The Rome-based agency also hopes to cut transportation
costs and help support farmers in countries where emergency
food can be bought locally.

But the agency already faces "obstacles" in procuring
food, particularly when trying to buy supplies locally,
spokeswoman Brenda Barton said.
"At the markets we have been buying food it has become
just too expensive", Barton told The Associated Press by
telephone. And she added: "a lot of markets just don't have any
food to buy."
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