Between $1.2bn and $1.8bn is needed to help ease the crises in developing nations, he said.
An FAO report released this week says that 37 countries were experiencing severe problems in supplying cheap food to their citizens.
Speculation on world food markets is reducing the effectiveness of increased food production, the report said.
Price riotsRiots over rising food prices began in southern Haiti earlier this week and quickly spread to the capital Port-au-Prince.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the price increases.
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Four were killed in the disturbances, while UN peacekeepers used rubber bullets and tear gas to drive away rioters from the presidential palace.
A rising demand for food in emerging market economies has further contributed to grain shortages.
Ethanol factor
The International Monetary Fund has calculated that corn ethanol production in the US accounted for at least half the rise in world corn demand in each of the past three years.
Washington
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In the European Union, most countries exempt biofuels from some gas taxes and impose an average tariff equal to more than $0.70 per gallon of imported ethanol.
"In just two months, rice prices have skyrocketed to near historic levels, rising by around 75 per cent globally and more in some markets - with more to come."
Zoellick said the world needs to recognise that food price inflation is contributing to a growing emergency.
The UN World Food Programme has said it requires $500m just to fill immediate need.
Food riots have erupted in Haiti, Egypt, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Madagascar, the Philippines and Haiti in the past month
In Pakistan and Thailand, army troops have been deployed to avoid food being seized from fields and warehouses
Prices in these countries for foodstuffs such as rice, wheat, sorghum and maize have doubled
Causes of crisis range from financial speculation on food commodities, desertification, population increases, China and India's economic growth and use of grains to make biofuels
Cost of funding projects enabling governments to tackle food crisis could be up to $1.7bn
However world cereal production in 2008 is projected to increase by 2.6 per cent to a record 2,164 million tonnes
Source: United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)
The World Bank says food price inflation is not a short-term phenomenon but will likely persist through 2008 and 2009 before demand slackens due to high prices.
World financers have also contibuted to the food price problem.
Commodities have attracted investors looking for a safe haven from failing investments in the highly-leverage mortgage sector.
Amid this speculation, world wheat prices rose 70 per cent between 2005 and 2007.
In the same period, corn gained 80 per cent in value, while dairy prices nearly doubled.