Food crisis grows

Rice, the staple food for half the world, gained 2.4 percent to $21.50 per 100 pounds in Chicago, double the price a year ago.
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China, Egypt, Vietnam and India, accounting for more than a third of global rice exports, curbed sales this year to protect domestic stockpiles. The World Bank in Washington says 33 nations from Mexico to Yemen may face “social unrest'’ after food and energy costs increased for six consecutive years.
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Four people died in two days of rioting last week over food prices in Haiti, the western hemisphere’s poorest country … Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal have also experienced unrest in the last several weeks related to food and fuel prices, according to the report.

From Bloomberg, cited by Paul Krigman, NYT, April 8, 2008