Brussels, Jun 22 (IANS): The European Commission proposes to disburse 600 million euros ($633 million) on top of existing EU support to help regions hit by the current food crisis, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

"To help our partners we will mobilise an additional 600 million euros ($633 million) to avoid a food crisis and an economic shock," she added on Tuesday at the 2022 European Development Days.

The money will come from the European Development Fund, and will be used to support African, Caribbean and Pacific countries to counter the looming food crisis, Xinhua news agency reported.

The countries will receive 150 million euros ($158 million) for humanitarian assistance, 350 million euros ($369 million) for sustainable production and resilience of food systems, and 100 million euros ($105 million) in macro-economic support.

This comes on top of an existing package of the EU's 3 billion euros ($3.16 billion) for global food security, tweeted von der Leyen.

Investments in food production and resilience of food systems are especially important, von der Leyen added.