Last week, on May 5^th, there was yet another eruption of violence over rising food prices, this time in Mogadishu, Somalia. Somali police fired into tens of thousands of rioting Somalis, killing at least two.

The rioting broke out as protesters marched against the refusal of traders to accept older 1,000 shilling banknotes, blaming them and a growing number of counterfeiters for the rising food costs in the capital.

An Associated Press reporter in Mogadishu watched as the number of protesters grew to tens of thousands. Soon the rioting spread to all thirteen districts of the city.

According to the Asian Development Bank, there are now over a billion poor people in Asia that need aid to help as food prices contine to skyrocket. With the price of rice and other food staples rising over 40% since the middle of last year, the poor around the world are being squeezed into panic.

The gap between the rich and the poor has become a chasm. We must find a way to bridge this divide. If we fail to do so, the outcome will be too ugly to contemplate. The poor will have no other choice but to take what they need to survive.