Days earlier, the government slashed fuel subsidies to avoid a budget blowout. Soaring oil prices are affecting countries around the globe, but Indonesia has for decades helped cushion the cost to protect the poor in the country of 235 million.

Prices at the pump jumped nearly 30 percent overnight, as did the cost of cooking fuel. The fuel hikes have pushed up the cost of basic commodities such as rice, tofu and eggs.

Residents living in ramshackle homes set up under an overpass in northern Jakarta were trying to find ways to make their meagre incomes stretch further. Some were cutting back on food, while others stockpiled wood for cooking or rode bikes to work instead of taking the bus.

The US$ 1.5 million aid package is expected to be extended after presidential elections next July.

Global Food Crisis: Philippines Rice Farming Suffers
Rice prices in Philippines have soared recently due to a global surge. Philippine's 2,000-year-old rice terraces in the Coridellera mountains, recognised by Unesco as a World Heritage site, are declining at an alarming rate and falling into disuse as farmers leave for more lucrative trades. According to Raymond Bahatan, head of Ifugao's agriculture office, productivity of these rice terraces has fallen to 2.5 tonnes per hectare, below an average 3.8-4.2 tonnes.

The amount of land is fixed and yield increases are limited because it is difficult to harvest more than one crop per year in this high-altitude environment. Philippines is the world's biggest importer of rice. It expects to ship in 2.7m tonnes this year, almost 10 percent of the total needed to feed a population of 91 million that is growing annually by more than 2 percent, states Jonathan Watts in a recent report in The Guardian.

According to the Manila-based Asian Development Bank, the 30 million people in Philippines who live on less than a dollar a day spend nearly 60 percent of their income on food. Due to a surge in rice and oil prices, inflation hit a three-year high of 8.3 percent in April. According to the bank, a
10 percent rise in food prices will push an additional 2.3 million into poverty.

In Philippines, the pressures are demographic, according to Duncan Macintosh of the International Rice Research Institute. The Catholic Church, a powerful force in the Philippines, is predicting rice instability for at least three more years. Alarmed by the rice crises, the Philippine government has ordered a halt to the conversion of farmland to other uses. The government is promoting eco-tourism tours and is also marketing the local 'tinawon' rice variety overseas. Family planning is important if Philippines is to become more self-sufficient in rice, says President Arroyo.

Rising Prices Threaten Starvation in Bangladesh
Rising prices have triggered a food crisis in 36 countries and the threat of malnutrition worldwide is looming. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) has estimated prices are likely to remain high for at least 10 years. FAO has confirmed it is cutting food handout rations to some 73 million people in 78 countries. The price of rice, Asia's staple food, has increased to 74 percent in the past year. "Prices will keep going up as production fails to keep up with soaring demand," cautioned the International Rice Research Institute recently.

The price of rice, Asia's staple food, went up by more than 10 percent in a single day in Bangladesh recently. Rice-importing countries Bangladesh, Vietnam and Afghanistan have been thumped hardest, as the world's biggest rice producers including China, India and Indochina are restricting exports to protect their stocks and limit inflation. The impact of high food prices has triggered unrest in dozens of countries, the latest in the Philippines, subsequent riots in Haiti and Egypt.

Presently Bangladesh is facing its worst food shortages. Twice hit by severe flooding last year and devastating cyclone Sidr have left hundreds of families surviving on one meal a day after spending up to 80 percent of their income on food. Economists estimate 30 million out of the Bangladesh's total population of 150 million could go hungry if the present situation goes on.