"Agflation" and the rice trade

Good little educational piece from Reuters on food price inflation with emphasis on global rice production.

Rice risks becoming a luxury in the face of soaring prices - threatening pinched budgets in the West but starvation in developing countries.

Riots have flared like a trail of gunpowder through West Africa as some of the world's poorest people struggle to cope with soaring inflation that's seen the prices of basic foods more than double in a year. The U.S. benchmark rice price -- at the Chicago Board of Trade -- has risen to over $24 per 100 pounds of rough rice, while the world benchmark for Thai rice has surged to more than a $1,000 per tonne of milled rice.

For other graphics see:

Agflation The real costs of rising food prices [Reuters]

Farmers can't keep up with rising demand. The world is in a food crisis that's already boiled over in some places. Track the impact with the stories and map below.