There is so far no limit to the rise in food and oil prices, a situation that is placing an unbearable burden on consumers and producers.

Last week saw more bad news on the price front. The prices of soya bean, corn and some meat jumped further to all-time high levels. The oil price had slipped earlier in the week but on Friday it rebounded by $4 a barrel to its record $140 a barrel.

Public protests have spread to more countries as prices of imported and local food have jumped, and now many new protests have been held over the rise in petrol prices, including due to the reduction of government subsidies.

As families struggle to make ends meet, and firms face rising production costs that may threaten their competitiveness or survival, raging battles are being waged over the factors causing the rise in prices of both food and oil.

At the recent FAO food conference in Rome, political leaders as well as citizen groups were arguing over who or what should be blamed for soaring food prices. The rising cost of oil and the drought conditions in many regions were the least controversial factors mentioned.

But while the leaders of many countries pointed to the displacement of crops for food by crops for biofuels, some countries like Brazil and the United States disputed that this was a significant factor.

Some American leaders seemed to point to people in India and China increasing their food intake as the countries' incomes improved.

Angry Indians in turn pointed out that people in the West have much higher food consumption, while the FAO director-general spoke of the rich countries spending billions treating obesity as an ailment while not providing funds to help the malnourished in developing countries.

The US and other Western countries seem to be blaming oil-producing countries for not increasing their oil supply.

Saudi Arabia and some other oil exporters, as well as several NGOs, put more of the blame on speculative activities of hedge funds and banks. To counter the attack on Opec and to explore the real causes of the oil prices increase, Saudi Arabia hosted an international conference on the oil price rise on Sunday in Jeddah.

Speculation should be curbed now, through better regulation. The oil companies could be subjected to a tax on windfall profits. And the oil exporting countries should be prepared to use some of their increased wealth in helping poorer developing countries that import oil. They can also increase their spending on developing renewable energy.

Khor is director, Third World Network.