Japan announced Friday it will provide $50 million in new emergency food aid to help developing countries cope with the impact of soaring food prices.

Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Tokyo will distribute the aid by October, in addition to $200 million it had already pledged.

Rapidly rising food prices are expected to be a top agenda item at the summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations, which Japan is hosting July 7-9.

The world is grappling with surging prices of corn, wheat, rice, soybeans and other agriculture products. The price hikes are blamed on a range of factors including high oil prices, changing diets, urbanization, expanding populations, extreme weather, growth in biofuel production and financial speculation.

Rising food prices have set off riots and protests from Africa to Asia and raised fears about a food crisis that could cause millions more people to suffer malnutrition.