When hunger strikes the globe

Parliament was adjourned on Tuesday over the rising food prices, with ruling coalition partners leading criticism of the Government from the front.

Parliament was adjourned on Tuesday over the rising food prices, with ruling coalition partners leading criticism of the Government from the front. However, as food prices soar across the globe, India isn8217;t the only country staring at a political fallout.

On Monday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said the global food crisis threatened to wipe out seven years of progress in the fight against poverty and warned there could be political implications. A day earlier, the World Bank said it feared 100 million people in developing countries could be pushed further into poverty. The World Food Programme issued an 8220;extraordinary emergency appeal8221; for 500 million last month, saying it needed the money by May 1 to avoid cutting rations to some of the world8217;s most impoverished regions. On Monday, the US responded by releasing 200 million in emergency aid.

In just two months, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said recently, rice prices have risen by around 75 per cent globally and more, and wheat prices by 120 per cent. Some estimates say food prices rose around 40 per cent globally last year.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation FAO has singled out six countries with an 8220;exceptional shortfall in aggregate food production and supplies8221;: Lesotho, Somalia, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Iraq and Moldova. An additional six countries with 8220;widespread lack of access8221; to food include Eritrea, Liberia, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and North Korea. The crisis has already sparked demonstrations in Egypt, Cameroon, Haiti and Burkina Faso, and triggered unrest in Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal:

BANGLADESH: Angry over doubling of rice price over the past year, some 20,000 textile workers took to the streets last Saturday demanding higher wages. Scores injured in clashes with police. Textile units are reluctant to raise wages as it will hit their export margins. Economists estimate 30 million of the country8217;s 150 million people could go hungry. The price of rice is up 30 per cent since last year. Last week, a senior official suggested people eat potatoes instead of rice

EGYPT: Protests by workers over food prices rocked the textile centre of Mahalla al-Kobra, north of Cairo, for two days last week, with two people shot dead by security forces. PM Ahmed Nazif rushed to the town with four ministers, offering bonuses and more investment in the town8217;s factory to placate the workers. With food prices in Egypt rising by 40 per cent in the past year, attempts by the government to ration subsidised bread have produced long lines and protests. Egypt is one of the world8217;s largest wheat importers, and so rattled is the government of President Hosni Mubarak that it called on the Egyptian army to begin producing bread for commercial use

IVORY COAST: Thousands marched on the home of President Laurent Gbagbo earlier this month, chanting 8220;life is too expensive8221;. Several injured as police broke up the protest. The country has seen food prices soar by between 30 per cent and 60 per cent

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SRI LANKA: With the country8217;s official inflation 28 per cent in March, the Government has been frantically seeking rice 8212; which is now twice as expensive as last year 8212; from both India and Pakistan. There is worse ahead, with bread prices expected to rise to 100 rupees by the end of the year. The price of milk powder is also on the rise, forcing parents to offer newborns diluted milk

PHILIPPINES: Rice prices are up to a 34-year high, creating more problems for the crisis-ridden regime of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Her government is accused of knowing of the shortages for more than a month and still doing nothing. Philippines is the world8217;s largest importer of rice, and with many countries, including India, Vietnam and Cambodia, curtailing exports to meet own shortages, anger is running high. Among the options being considered is encouraging restaurants to give customers the option of ordering half a cup of rice

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Around 1,500 workers staged protests last month against inflation and unpaid wages. Overall, inflation in the UAE last year was about 10 per cent. However, food price inflation was 27 per cent, with the estimation for this year close to 40 per cent.

PAKISTAN: Nearly half of Pakistan8217;s 160 million people are at risk of going short of food due to a surge in prices, the World Food Programme warned last week. With rising prices one of the grievances against the Musharraf regime, one of the first steps taken by the new coalition government was to raise the support price it pays farmers to buy wheat to ensure adequate supplies

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HAITI: The Government forced out in a no-confidence vote last week, after several days of protests against rising food prices and hunger across major cities. Five people dead and scores wounded in clashes, as crowds attempt to storm the presidential palace. Food prices in Haiti have risen on an average by 40 per cent in less than a year, with the cost of staples such as rice doubling. President Rene Preval has announced an emergency plan to reduce rice costs by 15 per cent