In 2007/08, cereals prices spiked on world markets, the sharpest spikes in over 30 years. When prices of staple foods started to rise, governments, international organisations, and NGOs took action. This report looks at responses that were taken to:

1. Prevent the high food prices from transmitting from international to domestic markets;
2. Maintain food availability at the time of the crisis using domestic production programmes, and;
3. Mitigate impacts of high prices on vulnerable citizens.

To look at these responses in detail, three country case studies from different regions of the world were used. These studies, commissioned with funding from DFID and in partnership with the UK Hunger Alliance, were undertaken in Bangladesh, Nicaragua, and Sierra Leone.