The World Food Programme has been awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat hunger.

n Oslo, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said the world was "in danger of facing a hunger crisis" and credited the World Food Programme (WFP), a United Nations body, for its work in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"With this year's award, the [committee] wishes to turn the eyes of the world to the millions of people who suffer from or face the threat of hunger," said Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the Nobel Committee.

"The World Food Programme plays a key role in multilateral cooperation in making food security an instrument of peace."

The organisation provided assistance to almost 100 million people in 88 countries last year.

The Nobel Committee called on governments to ensure that the WFP and other aid organisations received the financial support necessary to feed millions in countries such as Yemen, Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan and Burkina Faso.

"In 2019, 135 million people suffered from acute hunger, the highest number in many years," it said.

"Most of the increase was caused by war and armed conflict. The coronavirus pandemic has contributed to a strong upsurge in the number of victims of hunger in the world."

The organisation has consistently blamed climate change for fuelling hunger and wreaking havoc on crops.

'At one point, we were the biggest airline in the world'

WFP head David Beasley warned the UN Security Council in April that the world was "on the brink of a hunger pandemic" that could lead to "multiple famines of biblical proportions" within a few months if immediate action wasn't taken.

"I think this is the first time in my life I've been without words," Mr Beasley after being told the WFP had been given the award.

"I was just so shocked and surprised."

WFP spokesman Tomson Phiri highlighted the massive lengths the group had gone to following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Everything went into shutdown following nationwide and global restrictions following COVID-19," he said.

"The WFP stepped up to the plate, we were able to connect communities.

"At one point, we were the biggest airline in the world, when most, if not all, commercial airlines had ground to halt."

Dan Smith, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, said the Norwegian Nobel Committee wanted to send a message of both hope and "support for international cooperation".

"Hunger, like climate change, the pandemic and other issues, is a world problem that can only be properly addressed through cooperation. The World Food Programme is an institution of global cooperation," he said.

"Unfortunately, in too many quarters, especially among the great powers, there is a declining appetite for cooperation," he said, adding that world hunger was increasing again, having declined for several decades until 2016.

The WFP beat out a series of more high-profile candidates including New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and US President Donald Trump.

There was no shortage of causes or candidates on this year’s list, with 211 individuals and 107 organisations nominated ahead of the February 1 deadline.

The award comes with a $1.4 million cash prize and a gold medal to be handed out at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway, on December 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel's death.

This year's ceremony will be scaled down due to the pandemic.

On Monday, the Nobel Committee awarded the prize for physiology and medicine for the discovery of the liver-ravaging hepatitis C virus.

Tuesday's prize for physics honoured breakthroughs in understanding the mysteries of cosmic black holes, and the chemistry prize on Wednesday went to scientists behind a powerful gene-editing tool.

The literature prize was awarded to American poet Louise Gluck on Thursday for her "candid and uncompromising" work.

Still to come next week is the prize for outstanding work in the field of economics.