World rice prices tripled in just six months during 2007-08. While media attention focused on the events in international markets, the effects of the crisis were mostly felt in poor households in the developing world. Given the importance of rice as a key staple of the poor, monitoring the rice market is paramount.

More information: The 2007-08 Rice Price Crisis: How policies drove up prices... and how they can help stabilise the market, Economic and Social Perspectives, Policy Brief No. 13.