More than 900 million people in developing countries face starvation as food prices soar, a new report from Oxfam finds. Spiraling inflation in the cost of basic foods, such as rice and cereals, have pushed an extra 119 million people into hunger this year, according to the report, released to coincide with the UN International World Food Day. Oxfam's "Double Edged Prices [2]" report found 967 million people are now officially living below the hunger line. It found there had been a 300% rise in the cost of wheat in Somalia [3], a 100% increase in the price of flour, and a doubling of the cost of rice in Cambodia and the Philippines in the past year. Oxfam chief executive Barbara Stocking said the effects of the price rises are "devastating." (Press Association [4], Oct. 15)
See our last post on peak food [5].
