Millions of people will go hungry when future global food crises strike unless the world’s half a billion small-scale farms receive urgent support from the UK and other governments, says development agency Progressio.

Gebisa Ejeta, a professor of agronomy at Purdue University in the US, has been named recipient of the World Food Prize for his vital research on sorghum in his native Africa.

The dramatic rise over the past twelve months in global food prices poses a threat to the very poorest and to humanity as a whole, says a new specialist report from the UN - which is seeking to coordinate global action.