The report, '€œSqueezed'€, says the failure of wages to keep pace with five years of food price increases has put a strain on families and communities.

'€œDramatic changes in the workforce occur as people are forced out of agriculture into riskier but better paid occupations, such as mining or prostitution,'€ said the report made available to The Jakarta Post on Friday.

It further said food safety had become a growing concern because families were skipping meals or relying on cheaper, lower quality and sometimes contaminated food to stretch their budgets.

'€Squeezed'€ is the first of four annual reports that will assess the impact of high and volatile food prices on the well-being of urban and rural communities in ten countries: Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan, Vietnam and Zambia.

'€œIn February 2012, increased food and fuel prices were putting additional pressure on Indonesian workers'€™ already weakened wages,'€ said the report.

By August, real wages of farm workers in the country were at their lowest level since May 2008. While rice prices reduced slightly later in the year, the national average price of rice increased steadily again in the second half of the year, owing partly to seasonal factors.

'€œThe implications of high and volatile food prices go way beyond the dinner table and are driving social change that must be better understood and addressed if communities are going to survive intact,'€ said Oxfam'€™s policy research adviser, Richard King. (ebf)

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