Tens of millions of people have fallen into poverty as a result of a global surge in the prices of food and energy, according to a U.N. report released Thursday. The U.N. Development Program estimates that an additional 51.6 million people are now living in poverty or below the $1.90-a-day benchmark as a result of global inflation — an increase from 8.3 percent to 9 percent of the world’s population. The additional number of people falling beneath the $3.20-per-day level has reached nearly 20 million, leaving the net cumulative figure at 71.5 million people, the report said. “This cost-of-liv…