Rising cost of food is wreaking havoc on Central America

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – There is no shortage of good things to eat in the open-air Wholesale Market here in Nicaragua’s capital. Canvas sacks groan with rice and lentils. White eggs are stacked neatly, 30 to a box, fresh from the hens that laid them.

But talk to merchants and shoppers and they’ll tell you stories of want, not bounty. The fallout from exploding global prices for grains and fuel has landed hard on this impoverished Central American nation of 5.7 million people.


Bean seller Blanca Castro said most of her customers were buying less than they were just a few months ago. Some are stooping to humiliating lengths for bargains.

“They root through the garbage,” Castro said. “I see more of this every day.”

Much of Latin America has benefited from soaring global prices for agricultural commodities and petroleum. Venezuela and Mexico are flush with oil profits. Good times are rolling for soybean farmers in Argentina and Brazil.

But in Central America, a major importer of grain and oil, the price increases are wreaking havoc on already fragile economies. The region’s presidents are slated to gather here today for an emergency summit on food security. Aid agencies are warning of rising social tensions in countries where a typical day’s wages won’t buy a gallon of gas and food inflation is breaking family budgets.

Los Angeles Times