In the Chittagong hill tracts of rural south-eastern Bangladesh the bamboo is in bloom - and the local poor are hungry and facing famine. Bamboo blooms and seeds itself roughly once every 50 years; the rats love the seeds, and their high protein content causes them to breed four times faster than normal. After finishing off the bamboo seeds, the massively enlarged rat population moves on to other crops. Rice, ginger, turmeric and chillies fields have all suffered from the plague of rats. Rat trappers are working constantly, and the cooked rat itself has now become an important part of some diets, as crops are devastated and even wild food sources are depleted. Food aid from government and NGOs has been slow to reach the area.

The immediate effect is increased desperation for the poor - in Asia many spend 50-70% of income on food. But this is only a local manifestation of a serious global food supply problem that will affect us all to varying degrees. Food inflation of over 20% in the past year in the UK is only an early symptom.

Read more here.