R. Moldova is the only country in Europe which needs urgent food assistance, a report of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) points out. International bodies ring the bell for several months that the increase of food prices globally strikes bitterly the poor countries mainly. Because people are starving, riots erupted in Haiti, as three have died, and in Bangladesh. The list of those 37 countries facing food crises on which Moldova – the former kitchen garden of the Soviet Union – was included, also comprises 21 countries from Africa, 10 from Asia and 5 from Latin America. The World Bank explains the increase in food prices through the fact that many governments decided to commit more areas to cultivate biofuel cultures, as the oil price is hiking. “While many are worrying about filling their gas tanks, many others around the world are struggling to fill their stomachs, and it is getting more and more difficult every day,” says the World Bank President, Robert Zoellick. The global cereal prices keep soaring for the last two months (by 45%), because of steady demand and depleted reserves, the FAO report points out. The rice prices have gone up because the main exporting countries forbid exports. Later in March the wheat and rice prices doubled as compared to the last year’s levels, while the corn prices rose by one third. At the spring meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington on Saturday, 2 April, world leaders called on taking urgent action in response to the rise of food prices. Food street riots broke last month in ten countries.