Coming Hunger
Author: lovechina

People push to receive food distributed by the Kenyan Red Cross in the Mathare slum in Nairobi.

Pakistani women buy subsidized flour in Lahore. The price of staple foods and fuel has risen drastically in the country in the last few months. Many people in Pakistan are now dependent on state subsidies.

In Manila, the capital of the Philippines, soldiers stand guard during the sale of government rice. With the price of rice soaring, the government is looking at ways to ensure none of its citizens starve.

Protesters display placards against the alleged escalating prices of commodities during a protest march in Manila on April 12.

Prices are soaring in Egypt too. The price of cooking oil alone has risen by 40 percent within the last year.

Unrest in Haiti: A UN peacekeeper from Nigeria was shot dead in Port-au-Price during the recent riots. Around 9,000 peacekeepers and civilian police have been stationed in the country since former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in an armed rebellion in 2004.

Food prices in Haiti are reported to have risen by 50 to 100 per cent in the last year, hitting the vast majority of the population -- who live on less than $2 a day -- particularly hard.
A desperate appeal by the country's president could not stop the violence. Gangs armed with stones and clubs tore through the streets, setting tires on fire and erecting street barricades.

In the wealthier areas, police and UN peacekeepers tried to keep a lid on the violent protests, which were accompanied by looting.

Many observers feel that the Haiti riots are just a foretaste of global food-related unrest to come.


source : http://www.spiegel.de/

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