[Channel 4 News] High rice price sparks civil disorder fears

2008.04.09

By Channel 4 News:

"In the past month alone the price of rice has risen by more than 50 per cent in some areas and the UN has warned of worldwide unrest from rising food prices.

It is the staple diet for half of the global population, but the soaring cost of rice is now threatening to trigger food riots and political unrest across Asia.

The situation is being made worse by counties imposing restrictions on their rice exports and threatening harsh punishments for hoarders. Global costs are being driven up by a number of factors.

As Inigo Gilmore reports from India and Thailand, the world's largest exporters of rice, the high prices are likely to have the biggest impact on some of the world's poorest people."

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Channel4
• News
• rice
• price
• inflation
• food
• staple
• resources
• famine
• diet
• export
• Asia
• Africa
• population
• starvation
• UN
• WFP

[campaigners]

I visited the Philippines 2 years ago on a business trip and I saw long lines of people waiting for 5-6 hours just to get a kilo of USA rice.

I found out that the Philippines is the world's biggest rice importer and when I asked my Filipino business friends on their country's rice shortage, they were visibly annoyed and unconcerned.

I decided to drop the issue but I thought that it is only a matter of time before another rice shortage hits the country dependent on imports to feed itself.

[wavaso]

High gas price hit first the rice price while rice is eaten by half of the world population in daily bases.

[kool4eva]

HANDS OF MY RICE..

lol...

[Teller3448]

Strangely enough, Parboiled rice from the US is cheaper than white rice from Thailand...and far more nutritious.

[haoqh]

7 years of harvest are up people. Famine is in our fate.

[NYpinstripes25]

It is always amazing how british Media is sometimes obsessed with Poverty, that they always shoot their reports in poor areas... India is a rice exporter country.. And under ration card, Poor people actually can buy rice for Rs 2 (that is 5 American cents)... O well, This is british Media... They probably knew there is a weed called Rice only 300 yrs ago when they got out of their tundra island...