Food riots Food riots may occur when there is a shortage and/or unequal distribution of food. Causes can be food price rises, harvest failures, incompetent food storage, transport problems, food speculation, hoarding, poisoning of food, or attacks by pe ...

refer to protests, riots, and civil unrest attributed to popular outrage against food shortages and high or rising prices of food. In the 20th and 21st century, food riots occurred across the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

in several different countries. Immediate causes of food riots have included reduction in food subsidies, inflation, and economic stagnation. Food riots have also occurred as part of larger social movements. Food riots also figure prominently in criticism of austerity, neoliberal, and related IMF structural adjustment policies, such as during the 1977 Egyptian Bread Riots.

Egypt

Egypt experienced food riots in 1977, 1984 and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

. On Sunday, October 1, 1984, Egyptians in the Kfar el-Dewar industrial outside of Alexandria rioted and fought with police for eight hours. The rioters, who were said to number in the hundreds, "pelted police with stones, overturned carts in the town market, and smashed shop windows," according to one news report. The police reported that one person was killed, 13 people were injured, and 40 people (including police) were arrested.

Jordan

Food riots hit

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

in 1989 and 1996. At the beginning of 1989, Jordan defaulted on debt payment to the IMF, leading it to introduce price increases between 10 and 15% In April. That month the unrest began in the southern town of

Ma'an Ma'an ( ar, مَعان, Maʿān) is a city in southern Jordan, southwest of the capital Amman. It serves as the capital of the Ma'an Governorate. Its population was approximately 41,055 in 2015. Civilizations with the name of Ma'an have existe ...

before spreading to other cities in the south of Jordan. At least four civilians and one off-duty soldier were killed and total casualties reached at least 32 people in what would come to be known as ''habbat nissan'', or the "Squalls of April". While the 1989 riots were occurring in Jordan, King Hussein gave an interview with PBS' Robert MacNeil. At the time, Hussein stated:

Lebanon

Food protests began on Thursday, August 27, 1987, in Beirut and spread to other towns over the next few days. Marchers in the southern town of Sidon chanted "We're hungry! We want to eat!" and protests were logged by the police in the Eastern Lebanon town of Rasheiye in the Bekaa. Occurring 12 years and 120,000 deaths into the

Lebanon Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

, the onset of the riots coincided with that day's record fall of the value of the Lebanese pound against the dollar to 300 to 1. The falling exchange rate had considerable repercussions at a time when Lebanon imported 85% of its basic needs.

Egypt

Jordan

Lebanon

See also

References

Further reading