UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who belives that the food crisis had reached emergency proportions, is considering to convene a world summit to discuss how to respond to the crisis, his spokesperson said Thursday. "Yes, that is exactly what he is considering," spokesperson Michele Montas said when asked whether the UN chief plans to hold a gathering of world leaders to find ways to respond to the grave problems of food availability and high prices that have led to protests and tensions in many countries. UN officials said that the summit plans are still in preliminary stages as the world body's system has already been geared up to find answers to the escalating food crisis. No decision about the venue of the summit or dates has so far been taken, they said. Underscoring the gravity of the crisis, the secretary-general said it was time for both short- and long-term measures to deal with the rising cost of basic foods. The crisis, he said, threatened to wipe out seven years of progress in the fight against poverty. Meanwhile, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), a major UN organ, will hold a debate the crisis next month in New York while the Food and Agiruclture Organization (FAO) is scheduled to discuss the problem in June.