The new head of the United Nations food agency warns that in 2012, more people will go hungry.

Jose Graziano da Silva, now director general of the Food and Agriculture Organization, said Tuesday that he expects more volatile food prices this year, which will further deepen the hunger epidemic.

"Ending hunger requires the commitment of everyone," he said at a press conference in Rome. "Neither FAO nor any other agency or government will win this war alone."

Graziano da Silva added that his top priority is to make good on the agency's mandate to eradicate world hunger.

He told U.N. Radio that the biggest challenge over the next year will be the concern over high food prices.

"The prices will maintain high compared with the other years, previous years, and the volatility will also be very high," Graziano da Silva predicted.

Graziano da Silva helped form Brazil's "Zero Hunger" program, which has helped lift 19 million Brazilians out of poverty over the past eight years.