rising prices

we all recognize prices are up when we pull up at the gas station to fill up.  but what appears to be truly devastating on a global scale is the sharp increase in food prices (rice, corn, wheat).  as i was working at the computer this afternoon i listened to the radio in the background and heard a grave bbc report about the effects of the current cost of rice on the poorest nations.  in bangladesh they have a category of people which this report called the "ultra poor" - 15 million people the government is struggling to feed. 

i visited this country 10 years ago next month and it has left an indelible impression upon me.  it was so incredibly poor and overpopulated that i cannot imagine that it is now worse off because of economic and environmental circumstances.  apparently children are not only malnourished, but they must drop out of school as their parents choose between the cost of feeding them and sending them to school.  what are things coming to when a term must be created that includes "ultra" to aptly describe the severity of poverty?