Rome, Oct 10 (IANS): Food price volatility featuring high prices is likely to continue and possibly increase, making poor farmers, consumers and countries more vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity, Rome-base UN food agencies said in an annual report published Monday.

Small, import-dependent countries, particularly in Africa, are especially at risk, said the report.

Many of them still face severe problems following the world food and economic crises of 2006-2008, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) said in "The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2011" (SOFI), reported Xinhua.

Such crises, including in the Horn of Africa, "are challenging our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by half in 2015", heads of the three agencies - Jacques Diouf of FAO, Kanayo F. Nwanze of IFAD and Josette Sheeran of WFP - warned in the report.

The annual report focuses on high and volatile food prices, identified as major contributing factors in food insecurity at global level and a source of grave concern to the international community.

"Demand from consumers in rapidly growing economies will increase, population continues to grow, and further growth in biofuels will place additional demands on the food system," the report said.

Moreover, food price volatility may increase over the next decade due to stronger linkages between agricultural and energy markets and more frequent extreme weather events, it added.