The high price of rice

Men in Bangladesh transport rice to market near the border town of Rajshahi. Rice has been cultivated in south Asia for more than 4,000 years, and today Bangladesh is the world's fourth-largest producer of rice.

Food prices have risen rapidly in this country of nearly 170 million people, as they have around the world.

Bangladesh announced in late January that in order to keep rice affordable, it would have to import 1.2 million tonnes of it during the current year ending on 30 June. India, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore are expected to sell it the rice.

These rising imports may lead to higher world prices, according to Bloomberg News. Global demand for rice — around 453 million tonnes per year — is expected to exceed production for the first time in four years.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported that world food prices rose 25 per cent in the past year, to an all-time high in February 2011. They fell slightly in March.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick said last week that 44 million people have fallen into poverty due to rising food prices in the past year. He added that a further 10 per cent rise in food prices would send 10 million more people into poverty.