IFPRI

Soaring prices of staples — which have risen about 75% since 2005, driven by growing demand, rising oil prices and the effects of global warming — have sparked riots in several countries, as people reel from sticker shock and governments scramble to feed their people. Crowds tore through three cities in the West African nation of Burkina Faso late last week, burning government buildings and looting stores; when officials tried to talk peace with one group of protesters, the enraged crowd hurled stones at them. The riots followed similar violent protests over food prices in Senegal and Mauritania earlier this year. And, last October, protesters in India burned hundreds of food-ration stores after stockpiles emptied, leaving thousands of people unfed.

Food prices are expected to keep rising worldwide in the years ahead due to a number of factors, in turn posing a threat to the world's poor, an international think tank warned Tuesday n a report issued in Beijing. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) cited income growth, climate change, high energy prices, globalization, and urbanization as factors which were converging to transform food production, markets, and consumption.