Roots of Haiti’s food crisis run deep
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As the price of U.S. rice soars, experts urge a return to corn and other homegrown staples, writes Carol J. Williams in the Los Angeles Times. But farmers say there are too many obstacles.
‘Today, more than 70% of Haitians live on less than $2 a day, and the U.S. rice that is the staple of their diet has doubled in price in little more than a year. Hungry hordes rioted in the capital last month, leaving at least six dead by the time President Rene Preval restored calm by announcing that foreign aid and subsidies would lower the price of a 110-pound bag of rice to $43 from $51.’
As The Times has reported, Haiti isn’t the only country in the Western Hemisphere experiencing serious food shortages. Marla Dickerson reported from Nicaragua earlier this month on how high food prices are hitting that impoverished Central American nation.