Removal of price subsidies on corn (maize), fuel, and fertilizer had inflicted severe hardship on daily life.
That land is near a corn ethanol fuel plant.
At least two should become operational in 2007, converting corn into fuel for America's cars.
"Food prices have gone up because of raw materials going up: corn, and fuel, mainly," Mr. Handley said.
But interest in ethanol has waned amid concerns about the environmental impact of using corn for fuel rather than food.
Our ethanol program diverts large quantities of corn to fuel use, driving up the price of corn for both food and feed.
"People are demanding cheap food, they're demanding a lot of it — corn for fuel, soy for diesel," Mr. Book said.
Many poorer nations worry that subsidies from rich countries to support biofuels, which turn food, like corn, into fuel, are pushing up the price of staples.
"We are having to compete with this ethanol juggernaut," he added, referring to the growing use of field corn for fuel.
But rising demand for corn, for fuel and food, can have a profoundly negative effect if it causes farmers to clear previously untouched land, in turn releasing more carbon into the atmosphere.
