Poor may riot if food price soars - U.N. food chief

By David Brough

LONDON (Reuters) - Soaring food and energy prices could trigger political upheaval and riots in developing countries, the United Nations world food body chief Jacques Diouf said on Wednesday.

Food prices are booming: the Food and Agriculture Organization's food price index in July stood at its highest level since its inception in 1990, and was almost 70 percent higher than in 2000, the Rome-based FAO director-general said.

"There will be very serious strain on the little resources they (developing countries) have and a risk of social and political conflicts," Diouf said in an interview for Reuters Television.

"If food prices continue to be high, there are risks of riots."

"If you combine the increase of the oil prices and the increase of food prices, then you have the elements of a very serious crisis in the future," he added.

Protests over food prices have already taken place in some African countries, including Niger, Guinea and Burkina Faso, and in Yemen and Mexico.

Food costs account for the bulk of people's incomes in the world's poorest countries. More than 2 billion people live on $2 a day, according to Diouf.

Many of the poorest countries depend on imported crude oil, which is now trading at near record high prices.