BRUSSELS, September 10, 2008 (AFP) - World Food Programme chief Josette Sheeran urged the European Union Wednesday to show bold leadership and unblock a billion euros in aid to help poor countries confront the global food crisis.

In July, the European Commission proposed using one billion euros (1.4 billion dollars) in unused funds from the EU's agriculture budget to help developing countries raise farm production.

'This proposal has the ability to not only to save many lives but also to help with the response needed which is to increase production in the developing world to help meet the urgent food need,' Sheeran said.

The plan faces major opposition from some EU countries and in the European Parliament because the surplus farm money is usually used to reimburse those that contribute most to the bloc's coffers.

If endorsed, it would improve the access of poor farmers to fertiliser and seed, and help them boost production capacity. The funds would be paid out through international organisations.

'This money is urgently needed and I think it is a bold and almost poetic move, because this is a crisis among the world poorest farmers and the idea of the farmers of Europe reaching out to those farmers at time of great need is something that would really be a sign of great leardeship,' Sheeran said.

She warned that the problem remained severe, even though it was not making headlines at the moment as much as it had previously.

'We are in a crisis mode, we are not out of the woods yet,' she said at the European Parliament, where a conference on the EU aid was being held.