Riots in Egypt. Protests in Haiti. Clashes in Indonesia. These conflicts are all driven by the price of rice, which has almost doubled in the past year. The World Bank says 33 countries are at risk of social unrest over food scarcity. Why are we seeing this now?

Many blame biofuels for food shortages, which they say are now competing with our stomachs for corn.

But Professor Amani Elobeid, from the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at Iowa State University, says it’s not as simple as a "food versus fuel" debate — and that there are more fundamental problems.

We talked with Professor Elobeid about why we're seeing food shortages and price increases now, how much biofuel demand is to blame, whether this is actually a new problem, and what could end the emergency.

Takeaway facts:

• Global food prices have risen 83 percent over the past three years.
• he United Nations World Food Programme calls the current global food crisis the "silent tsunami."

Guest: Amani Elobeid, international sugar and ethanol analyst with the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at Iowa State University.