(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-02 16:06

NAIROBI - The head of the UN World Food Program (WFP) is due in Kenya Wednesday for a two-day visit to highlight the impact of soaring food prices and fuel costs which are affecting millions of people around the world.

A statement from the UN agency said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran, who addressed the joint African Union (AU) and Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) conference on the rise in food prices in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Tuesday will visit the agency's current operations.

"During her two-day trip, she will again focus on the impact of rising food prices on people, and will visit WFP's current operations, including those in response to post-election violence, " the statement said.

Sheeran will on Wednesday visit people displaced by the post- election violence in the Rift Valley town of Naivasha, one of the regions affected by the post-election violence.

"On April 3, she will visit an HIV/AIDS clinic supported by WFP and a school that gives children a mid-morning snack and lunch made from WFP food in the Nairobi slum of Kibera. She will also hold talks with grain and cereal traders and small farmers' groups in Nairobi," the statement said.

While in Addis Ababa, Sheeran attributed to a "perfect storm" of increasing demand for food from emerging economies, competition between biofuels and food production, high fuel prices and increasing droughts and floods.

Earlier this month, WFP made an emergency appeal to donor countries for 500 million US dollars to offset the increased price of food commodities.