In Haiti, protests over the rising cost of food have entered their second week. On Wednesday, UN forces fired teargas and rubber bullets on crowds outside the national palace. Prices of staples, including rice, beans and fruit, have increased 50 percent over the past year.

Protester: “We can’t live. A kilo of rice is selling at $30 Haitian. We can’t afford to feed our children.”

At least five people have been killed and more than forty wounded during a week of protests. The food-price protests in Haiti are one of several to hit countries around the world in recent weeks. On Wednesday, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization warned the unrest could spread even further unless the international community intervenes to reverse the rising costs. Several factors have contributed, including droughts and a rising demand for biofuels such as ethanol, which drives up food prices by making food crops more scarce.