Growing
Fears Over Global Food Supply
Russia
announced a 12-month extension of its grain export ban
on Thursday, raising fears about a return to the food
shortages and riots of 2007-08 which spread through
developing countries dependent on imports. The
announcement by Vladimir Putin came as the UN’s Food
and Agriculture Organisation called an emergency
meeting to discuss the wheat shortage, and riots in
Mozambique left seven dead. The unrest in Maputo, in
which 280 people were also injured, followed the
government’s decision to raise bread prices by 30
per cent. Police opened fire on demonstrators after
thousands turned out to protest against the price
hikes, burning tyres and looting food warehouses.