31/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - Threat of food crisis. The spectre of a new food crisis, two years after the food riots, has provoked intense debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where leaders have taken very seriously a threat which could be aggravated by the increase in the world's population. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday 27 January that food security was at the top of the list of priorities of the French Presidency of the G20. The threat is seen as a real one, especially as the prices of foodstuffs continue to rise, in the wake of the hikes in the costs of raw materials, resulting from the much higher demand by emerging economies in combination with climate problems, which have had an adverse affect on harvests, and speculation. (L.C./transl.rt)