Guardian UK: Food price rises threaten global security - UN

[marmar]

Food price rises threaten global security - UN
Hunger riots will destabilise weak governments, says senior official

David Adam, environment correspondent
The Guardian, Wednesday April 9 2008


Rising food prices could spark worldwide unrest and threaten political stability, the UN's top humanitarian official warned yesterday after two days of rioting in Egypt over the doubling of prices of basic foods in a year and protests in other parts of the world.

Sir John Holmes, undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and the UN's emergency relief coordinator, told a conference in Dubai that escalating prices would trigger protests and riots in vulnerable nations. He said food scarcity and soaring fuel prices would compound the damaging effects of global warming. Prices have risen 40% on average globally since last summer.

"The security implications should also not be underestimated as food riots are already being reported across the globe," Holmes said. "Current food price trends are likely to increase sharply both the incidence and depth of food insecurity."

He added that the biggest challenge to humanitarian work is climate change, which has doubled the number of disasters from an average of 200 a year to 400 a year in the past two decades.

As well as this week's violence in Egypt, the rising cost and scarcity of food has been blamed for:

· Riots in Haiti last week that killed four people

· Violent protests in Ivory Coast

· Price riots in Cameroon in February that left 40 people dead

· Heated demonstrations in Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal

· Protests in Uzbekistan, Yemen, Bolivia and Indonesia

UN staff in Jordan also went on strike for a day this week to demand a pay rise in the face of a 50% hike in prices, while Asian countries such as Cambodia, China, Vietnam, India and Pakistan have curbed rice exports to ensure supplies for their own residents. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/09/food.unitednations

[spindrifter]

1. People really need to start thinking about this--

people in Uzbekistan and Cameroon and Haiti know that they should be able to get food, a basic human right. When there is unrest in Egypt over the rising cost of food, you know there are problems. The greedy Bushites have really screwed the world--and we, the people, have let it happen.

[whistle]

2. No shit Sherlock

[ruiner4u]

3. Hear me out.. Just detach for a moment...

And think how amazing and unprecedented that in six months of human affairs we went from first world economic "stability" to runs on the worlds markets, virtually no more credit to be given by banks, demonstrating truckers, and now food riots in the third world.


If this isn't the start of a world wide depression I dont know what is... I cant imagine what the next six months will bring..

[marmar]

5. "I cant imagine what the next six months will bring.."

:scared:

[napoleon_in_rags]

7. Keep talkin' ruiner4u

because you are right. This ugliness has been a long time coming and we currently have a DESPERATE need to take the red pill about what has been going down over the last 8 years.

[UndertheOcean]

4. The only solution of this delima is to try

to reduce our numbers

Earth can't sustain 6 billion of us , and its better to have this reduction occur slowly and intentionally , rather than through famine and War.

Dark days are coming.

[pingzing58]

6. It's not about population it's about sharing the earth's resources. The wealthy are hoarding

commodities to manipulate the price and the growth of their personal incomes. Hunger forced the Huns to attack Rome and Rome fell when there was no food left.