“We must act now, effectively and cooperatively to blunt the negative effect of rising food prices,” she said in a speech to the UN food agency in Rome.

Rising food prices have become highly sensitive around the world after fueling protests that toppled the rulers of Tunisia and Egypt earlier this year, with unrest spreading across North Africa and the Middle East.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization said earlier that world food prices rose slightly in April, boosted by concern about the US grains crop, but they were still off record highs reached in February.

Clinton said the world community needed to deepen its commitment to sustainable agriculture and food security.

“We must redouble our commitment to sustainable agriculture and food security... and we must improve our coordination within and across all organizations,” she said.