Food and Agriculture Organisation chief Jacques Diouf went on a 24-hour hunger strike on Saturday to put a spotlight on chronic malnutrition worldwide ahead of a UN summit on food security.

Diouf began the hunger strike late Friday, sleeping at FAO headquarters in Rome on a makeshift mattress of foam blocs, the UN organisation said in a statement.

He called on "people of goodwill everywhere" to join his hunger strike in solidarity with the one billion humans who suffer chronic malnutrition, the FAO said.

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon will join the hunger strike on Sunday, it said.

"I hope that through these gestures we will raise awareness, and build pressure from public opinion to ensure that those who can change this situation are able to do so," Diouf said.

More than 60 heads of state and government will attend the World Summit on Food Security on Monday.

france24