Meanwhile Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar called on leaders at the World Food Summit to act and not just talk to reduce poverty and halve world hunger by 2015.

"We have to move from commitments to action," Aznar, whose country chairs the rotating European Union presidency, said as the four-day gathering got under way.

"The existence of an adequate political, social and economic environment is a fundamental precondition for the fight against poverty," said Aznar, who is only one of two leaders from the 29 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to be represented here.

The other is Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who said the fight against hunger had to become "more concrete, more efficient and more secure." Berlusconi, who is chairing the summit, said he was convinced industrialized countries were ready to boost funds for anti-hunger programs if those programs are overhauled.

Aznar said EU countries shared the idea that the "fight against poverty and hunger requires adequate mobilization" of financial means.

He reminded delegates that the European Union was the top giver of development aid worldwide, and that it remained committed to the goal of the first food summit in 1996 to slash the population of hungry people to 400 million by 2015.