IMF warns over high food prices

Washington: The head of the International Monetary Fund has said high food prices could have dire consequences for people in many developing countries, especially in Africa.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Saturday that if current trends continue ''thousands, hundreds of thousands of people will be starving.''

Earlier, Germany's development minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said more regulation of the global bio-fuels market was needed to help stop the rise in food prices.