The resource-rich Indian Ocean island of Madagascar has decided to ban rice exports to cushion the country against spiraling global food prices.

According to Krystyna Bednarska, the World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director in Madagascar, the decision was aimed at preventing the unrest experienced in countries where rising food prices have impacted most severely on the most vulnerable and poor.

Madagascar, which has been rocked by food riots in the past, is one of the biggest per capita consumers of rice in the world.

n April the World Bank warned that there were over 30 countries where price hikes could cause social unrest. Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Mauritania, Niger, Peru, the Philippines, Uzbekistan and Zambia, among others, have all seen protests against high food prices.