Despite the global economic recession, food prices remain high and this is pushing struggling families deeper into poverty. Children’s nutrition, health, education and protection are under increasing threat and many millions face hunger on a daily basis.

Though many of the 'food crisis' trends are global, high food prices are hitting developing countries and communities the hardest. In developing countries, poor families spend a high percentage of their income – often between 50% and 70% - on food.

These families also face other challenges such as insecure livelihoods and sick family members. They often cope by selling assets, or moving to areas with better food supplies – but the poorest families have few assets to sell, and cannot move. Rising prices for these households are devastating.

The current crisis is being referred to as the 'new face' of hunger. Projections indicate that high food prices are not a temporary phenomenon, but are expected to remain elevated until at least 2015.

Quick action is clearly needed to increase emergency aid to communities who have been hardest hit. But much more than this is needed: in the longer term, there must be a concerted effort to build local agriculture, economic productivity and resilience in poor communities so that they can cope with future shocks.

World Vision and many other humanitarian organisations are acutely aware that this is not 'business as usual'. What’s needed is a review of policies and practices that affect people’s access to food and new ways to respond to a changed global environment.