10,000 workers rioted close to the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, smashing cars and buses and vandalising factories in anger at high food prices and low wages. Dozens of people, including at least 20 police officials, were injured in the violence. Economists estimate 30 million of the country’s 150 million people could go hungry.

In April 2008, the Brazilian government announced a temporary ban on the export of rice. The ban is intended to protect domestic consumers.

One of the earlier food riots took place in Burkina Faso, on February 22, when rioting broke in the country’s second and third largest cities over soaring food prices (up to 65 percent increase), sparing however the capital, Ouagadougou, where soldiers were mobilized throughout strategic points. The government promised to lower taxes on food and to release food stocks. Over 100 people were arrested in one of the towns.

Cameroon, the world’s fourth largest cocoa producer, saw large scale rioting in late February 2008, in protest against inflating food and fuel prices, as well as the attempt by President Paul Biya to extend his 25-year rule. At least seven people were killed in the worst unrest seen in the country in over fifteen years. Part of the government response to the protests was a reduction in import taxes on foods including rice, flour, and fish. The government reached an agreement with retailers by which prices would be lowered in exchange for the reduced import taxes. As of late April 2008, however, reports suggested that prices had not eased and in some cases had even increased.

On 24 April 2008, the government of Cameroon announced a two-year emergency program designed to double Cameroon’s food production and achieve food self-sufficiency.

On March 31, Côte d’Ivoire’s capital Abidjan saw police use tear gas and a dozen protesters injured following food riots that gripped the city. The riots followed dramatic hikes in the price of food and fuel, with the price of beef rising from $1.68 to $2.16 per kilogram, and the price of gasoline rising from $1.44 to $2.04 per liter, in only three days.

In Egypt, a boy was killed from gunshot after Egyptian police intervened in violent demonstrations over rising food prices that gripped the industrial city of Mahalla on April 8. Food prices, and particularly the price of bread, have doubled over the last several months.

On 12 April 2008, the Haitian Senate voted to dismiss Prime Minister Jacques-Édouard Alexis after violent food riots hit the country.[58] Prices for food items such as rice, beans, fruit and condensed milk have gone up 50 percent in Haiti since late 2007 while the price of fuel has tripled in only two months.[59] Riots broke out in April due to the high prices, and the government is attempting to restore order by subsidizing a 15 percent reduction in the price of rice.

Food riots were reported in the Indian state of West Bengal in 2007 over shortage of food. India has banned the export of rice except for Basmati types of rice which attract a premium price.

Street protests over the price of food took place in Indonesia where food staples and gasoline have nearly doubled in price since January 2008.

In April 2008, the Latin American members of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) met in Brasilia in order to confront the issues of high food prices, scarcities and violence that are affecting the region.

In mid February, rioting that started in the Mozambican rural town of Chokwe and then spread to the capital, Maputo, has resulted in at least four deaths. The riots were reported in the media to have been, at least in part, over food prices and were termed “food riots.” A biofuel advocacy publication, however, claimed that these were, in fact, fuel riots, limited to the rise in the cost of diesel, and argued that the “food riot” characterization worked to fan “anti-biofuels sentiment.”

The army has been deployed to avoid the seizure of food from fields and warehouses.

The government reacts nothing about the crisis, but export rice in the stable rate as before

In the Philippines, the Arroyo government insisted on April 13 that there would be no food riots in the country and that there could be no comparison with Haiti’s situation. Chief Presidential Legal Counsel, Sergio Apostol stated that: “Haiti is not trying to solve the problem, while we are doing something to address the issue. We don’t have a food shortage. So, no comparison…” Comments by the Justice Secretary, Raul Gonzalez, the following day, that food riots are not far fetched, were quickly rebuked by the rest of the government.

On April 15, the Philippines, the world’s largest rice importer, urged China, Japan, and other key Asian nations, to convene an emergency meeting, especially taking issue with those countries’ rice export bans. “Free trade should be flowing,” Philippine Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap stated.[70] In late April 2008, the Philippines government requested that the World Bank exert pressure on rice exporting countries to end export restrictions.

The Russian government pressured retailers to freeze food prices before key elections for fear of a public backlash against the rising cost of food in October 2007.

On 31 March 2008, Senegal saw riots in response to the rise in the price of food and fuel. Twenty four people were arrested and detained in a response which one local human rights group claimed included “torture” and other “unspeakable acts” on the part of the security forces. Further protests took place in Dakar on 26 April 2008.

Rice shortage gained attention in the news media in April 2008 when Sam’s Club instituted a limit on how much rice that restaurant and retail customers could purchase due to shortages. This came after Mexico announced that its oil production declined by 7.8% in the first quarter, an unprecedented decline.

Food riots in southern Yemen that began in late March and continued through early April, saw police stations torched, and roadblocks were set up by armed protesters. The army has deployed tanks and other military vehicles. Although the riots involved thousands of demonstrators over several days and over 100 arrests, officials claimed no fatalities; residents, however, claimed that at least one of the fourteen wounded people has died.