World Bank president, Robert Zoellick, today warned that the surge in food prices could push 100 million people into deeper poverty.  Speaking to the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, Zoellick said:

Based on a very rough analysis, we estimate that a doubling of food prices over the last three years could potentially push 100 million people in low-income countries deeper into poverty. This is not just a question of short-term needs, as important as those are; this is ensuring that future generations don’t pay a price too.

Zoellick’s remarks come on the heels of his appeal last week for a “New Deal” to address the food crisis. Zoellock last week said that surging food prices could mean “seven lost years” in the fight against worldwide poverty,  “While many are worrying about filling their gas tanks, many others around the world are struggling to fill their stomachs, and it is getting more and more difficult every day.”

Echoing similar concerns, Newsday today published “Long-term Solutions Needed to Feed the World,” a column that I wrote that looks at the demographic implications of the international food crisis. In the column, I note that:

The Food and Agricultural Organization maintains a list of "countries in crisis" currently requiring external food assistance. In February, 36 nations were on that list, including some of the poorest and fastest growing countries in the world. The total population of those nations, currently 1.1 billion, is expected to rise to 1.5 billion by 2025, and 2.0 billion by 2050. Will these countries, with their high incidence of poverty and their rapid population growth, be able to feed themselves?

The recent comments made by Zoellick suggest that some of these 36 countries may not be able to meet that challenge. If so, many of the world’s poor, many of whom have migrated to urban areas, will be standing in food lines...or worse.