Zoellick on Food Prices

According to BBC News, Robert Zoellick, the World Bank Boss, has said:

"Based on a rough analysis, we estimate that a doubling of food prices over the last three years could potentially push 100 million people in low-income countries deeper into poverty."

So the problem has been going on for a while, but it is only catching on today. I wonder if this could have been foreseen...

Thinking about the so-called poverty trap a lot of people in poor countries are in right now, this could really turn into a vicious cycle, an economic plague if you will. First people couldn't afford food because they were poor, now, according to this, poor farmers will not benefit from higher food prices, but instead be hit even harder, pushing them to new limits of poverty that will impact their lives for the rest of their days. This all sounds a little too apocalyptic. Maybe its time to do something about it.

The IMF and the World Bank have been talking to each other, trying to figure out how to solve this crisis, according to the same article. If aid coming from these two monster agencies does find its way to poor people in poor countries, and not lost in bureaucracies, maybe something can and will be done. It's a matter of time. Could this become so big as to become the event of the year, even over the possible (and almost certain) US recession?