February 02, 2011

Turmoil in Egypt casts light on food politics

In Egypt, food is a highly political issue. The world’s biggest wheat importer, where one in five people lives on less than US$1 a day, provides subsidized bread for 14.2 million people.

United Nations figures showing world prices pushed above their highs of three years ago in December has sparked a wave of unease throughout the heavily import-reliant region as governments looked to stave off domestic inflation.

Yet Daniel Williams, a worker for Human Rights watch who has been living in Egypt for seven years, said food inflation has played only a minor role in the current discontent. “For someone poor trying to feed a family of four children here has always been difficult,” he said. Read more...

This blog is written by Martin Little The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine from Perendale Publishers.

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