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As Egypt seeks to establish a new and representative political system after the fall of the Mubarak regime, the one helpful action the United States and Europe could take would be to ensure that Egypt's drama doesn't turn into desperate tragedy by ensuring its food supply. Food shortages and rising prices were one of the underlying factors behind the explosions in Tunisia and Egypt, with demonstrators brandishing loaves of bread and complaining of the high price of staples like lentils. The increased costs of feeding Egypt, the world's leading importer of wheat, could topple the fledgling new government.
Other Arab and Islamic governments have been desperately buying up wheat on world markets. Algeria paid top price for 800,000 tons of wheat last month. Indonesia is buying 800,000 tons of rice. Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Libya and Bangladesh are all scouring the world markets for more, spurring the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization appeal against panic buying that would "aggravate the situation."
With world food prices hitting highs this month, the situation is about to get a deal worse thanks to the latest report of what the official Xinhua news agency says is China's worst drought for 60 years. Xinhua added that Shandong Province, the heartland of Chinese grain production, was facing its worst drought in 200 years unless serious rains come this month.
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