Rising food prices hit pockets of Asian consumers

IN Tunisia earlier this year, anti-government protesters waved bread loaves, shouting: “We can’t live by bread and water alone.” Meanwhile, in Egypt, Yemen and Algeria, frying pans were held aloft by demonstrators to convey the same message.

High food prices were just one reason for the political unrest in the Arab world. Yet they remain an important factor. For, with little arable land and scarce water resources, the Middle Eastern and North African region imports more food per capita than any other; Egypt is the world’s single biggest wheat purchaser.