WASHINGTON - Without global action, people in poor countries would be deprived of adequate and nutritious food due to the food price surge, and the G20 (Group of 20 major economies) should take practical action to help make a real difference to hundreds of millions of people, the World Bank said on Thursday.

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"Figures released on Wednesday by the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization show that costs for a range of basic commodities have now surpassed their peaks of 2008," World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick wrote in an article posted on the World Bank website on Thursday.

Zoellick contended that with food accounting for a large and volatile share of tight family budgets in the poorest countries, rising prices are re-emerging as a threat to global growth and social stability.

The overarching goal should be to ensure that the most vulnerable people and countries are no longer denied access to nutritious food. The G20 can achieve this if the members take practical and interconnected steps, noted the article.

The World Bank chief put forward an array of measures including improving long-range weather forecasting and monitoring, especially in Africa, deepening the understanding of the relationship between international prices and local prices in poor countries and ensuring effective social safety nets, in a bid to better help poor families worldwide.