Bread and butter matters: fourteen months after President Abdoulaye Wade's election song to put things right, Senegalese people are today dancing to a different drumbeat. Abdoulie Sey reports from Dakar on the cheerless refrains brought by the rising cost of living.

The capital of Senegal, Dakar, is now one of the most expensive cities in Africa. As such it was only a matter of time before simmering discontent was uncorked on its streets and in March it triggered running battles between rioters and the police. In a country with a legion of trade union activists eternally poised to apply "street pressure" over any grievance, strikes, particularly from university students, have become the rule rather than the exception.

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Dakar witnessed in March one of the worst food riots in recent years. Police had to be called in to restore order. "We are hungry" declared a T-shirt worn by a protester among a group of demonstrators burning tyres and playing hide and seek with the police.

The rioters would not have been dispersed if it was not for the heavy-handed use of truncheons, batons and teargas by police. Even some journalists covering the unrest were not spared. But although the demonstration received a bloody nose, this was only after marchers from the teeming suburbs of Greater Dakar made sure that their message was bellowed loud and clear to President Abdoulaye Wade, that the performance of his government so far was far from the pledges he made when his ruling Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) wooed them for their votes in the 2000 and 2007 elections.

Ousmane Tanor Dieng, of the opposition Socialist Party (PS), was quick to jump on the simmering sentiments, saying "it was time the world knew that Senegal's ranks of the unemployed were swelling and hunger was an emergency issue the government was paying little attention to".

President Wade accused Dieng of using unsuspecting sections of the population to ferment the unrest and threatened tough measures against those hell-bent on compromising the country's security. For the ordinary Senegalese, however, so much is at stake that bracing themselves for the inevitable police crackdown was necessary if that would affect government decisions to bring about a positive economic performance and put food on their tables.

Nursing a bandaged arm, hurt during the food riots, Medoune Diop, a carpenter living in the squalid Thiaroye, was satisfied that the unrest had attracted government and international attention. A breadwinner of 12 children said positive action from the politicians should begin where the talking had ended:

"We have heard too much talk by the PDS. Now we want to see action, positive action. We can cope with everything under the sun except a hungry stomach. How can the Senegalese be happy when they are hungry? Who can I blame when I can't pay my son's school fees because there are no jobs for me as a carpenter? As the leader of this country Mr. Wade should be answering these questions".

"I run a bakery but we suffer frequent power cuts" added 46-year-old baker Bekai Wone. "This is very bad for business and terrible for our economy. The majority of us voted for the PDS, but these same voters are not happy with the realities today. It is difficult not to think that we have been cheated of our votes."

In the past year, the price of bread and other basic food essentials has risen by more than 40%. President Wade's government blames the situation on the rising price of oil and other commodities elsewhere--thanks to the globalised nature of the world economic and trading system. Senegal is heavily dependent on international imports of consumables to meet its consumption requirements, which is a mammoth task for the government with over 12 million people to feed everyday.

As a general trend the cost of grain and other foodstuffs has gone beyond the pockets of many consumers in West Africa as a whole. But the Food Early Warning Systems has warned that Senegal is among the countries in the region bracing for a food security crisis that may extend to the end of the year. The crisis is being blamed on below-par crop production in West Africa due to inclement weather over the past year. Earlier the World Food Programme had announced that $500m was needed to meet its programme commitments against hunger in 2008.