“We are going to be facing a broader trend of increasing commodity prices, including food commodity prices,” Zoellick told the media last week. Zoellick called on G20 global leaders to tackle the surge in prices and increased volatility threatening the poor and driving up inflation in developing countries.
But the World Bank chief said rising world food prices also presented opportunities especially for developing nations that could boost revenues by increasing food production to meet rising global demand.
More expensive food affects the poor the worst because up to 75 percent of their income is spent on basic foodstuffs.
Analysts say higher prices of food and other basic commodities coupled with political repression and growing inequality between the rich and poor, are the key drivers of protests seen in recent weeks in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Algeria and Jordan.
Post published in: Economy