United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for emergency measures in regions in urgent need of food and long-term efforts to increase grain production.

Speaking at a UN meeting on Monday, Ban Ki-moon warned that a global food crisis is threatening to eclipse years of progress in fighting poverty.

''The international community will also need to take urgent and concerted action in order to avoid the larger political security implications of this growing crisis. ''

Ban Ki-moon added that his organization needs to examine leadership processes for both short- and long-term responses to global problems.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization, says 37 countries are currently facing food crises.

World food prices increased 42 percent last year. The World Bank said wheat prices had surged nearly two hundred percent in the past three years.