World leaders gathered?in Rome on?Tuesday for a three-day summit, seeking ways of tackling soaring food prices and helping millions of people in the fight against hunger.

The summit, hosted by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is the first global response to the recent cycle of food prices hike.

It is aimed at winning donor pledges for urgent aid as short-term solutions and generating longer-term strategies to safeguard food production.

The main topics on the agenda are rising food prices, climate change and the increasing production of biofuels, with the last set to spark controversies.

(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2008)