Written by Kit Shangpliang, World Vision India Communications Coordinator, with Ratan Kumar. Kit's job has taken him to the frontline of many breaking emergencies, from the Gujurat earthquake in 1999 through to the Asia tsunami and the Kashmir earthquake.

In a relief camp, a little girl bites a tender guava and a small boy cleans up a bowl of flat rice - food aid is reaching the people of flooded Bihar.

But what next? The coming months pose a worse threat than ever before to the health of these children, as food availability decreases and prices increase in the wake of this year's floods.

In the past, the state government of Bihar has intervened many times to curb rising prices to make food affordable for the masses. This time around, it may be challenging for the state to monitor prices and keep them down.

Since flooding hit 16 districts in Bihar state, there have been many stories of opportunists charging more than they should - whether for a boat ride or basic commodities. So, while government mechanisms can control prices in the towns, it seems to be a tougher task in far-flung villages where people are suffering the most.

Sugarcane, paddy and maize are widely grown in the severely flood-affected region of north Bihar. In the coming six months, there will be few or no crops left. Land owners and farmers won't be able to offer jobs to the women who cut the crops and get food in return.

Villagers in these areas don't normally buy much food because they have a regular supply from the fields. This has helped protect them from wider inflation.

But without this local supply, village economies are already collapsing, leaving thousands jobless. Parents will have no money to buy food, let alone pay for education and health for their children.

The impact of global food-price rises is creeping into flooded Bihar. For now, it may be gradual and almost hidden, but it could turn the flooding disaster into a bigger catastrophe in the months ahead.

"Today people will be forced to buy food and the question of buying food may emerge as a major problem," said Bradley Thompson, National Coordinator of Health for World Vision India, as he toured the flooded districts with an assessment team.

Grim reality for Fekan's family

Five-year-old Fekan's future is bleak. His family is displaced, their cattle gone and their house washed away. His loved ones are living in a makeshift camp and surviving on food provided by the government and aid agencies. Soon they will be pushed out of the camp.

Unlike others who travelled for hours to get there, this family took less than an hour walking in the hot sun to reach Parwaha Canal relief camp in Madhepura district.

Fekan's father Shiv is a landless farmer who pays high prices for the small plot he cultivates. Even after the floods destroyed his crops, this struggling farmer will still need to pay the amount agreed.

Shiv and his wife also work as daily labourers for middle-class farmers. Though their wages are very low, they can at least fill the family's stomachs with the share of food they bring home after working in the fields. But when they return home after the floods, there will be no fields, no rice and no food - a problem that will linger for months.

Shiv is worried. "I don't know how to get food as nothing available in the market is affordable," he said. "I will need to work for longer hours to provide my family with what we need." But he doesn't know if his plan will work.

As people leave the camps and go back to their villages, they will also require clothes, medical assistance and education. But for Shiv, food is a priority and may mean going without other necessities. "My children may not be able to go school, we have to live with that," he added.

World Vision relief in the form of survival kits (including rice, lentils, powdered pulses, flat rice, candles and match boxes) is helping families like Shiv's get by. And while they're in the camp, World Vision and locals who run it are preparing them to face the aftermath of these floods. World Vision plans to cover a population of 125,000, helping them with food, health and child care.

Global economy contributes to price rises

As corporate India continues to hurtle forward, with economic growth touching 8 percent, people's capacity to buy food is growing - resulting in consumption and price increases which impact the poor.

In response, food exporting nations like India are under pressure to counter inflation and reserve more rations for their huge populace. Food specialists fear that this will affect food supply and costs, not only in India but also other nations that import from India.

In the Bihar context, where the problem of malnutrition has been lingering for decades, the flooding will surely make things worse for the poor.

"The malnutrition in these districts is among the highest levels in the country, and the potential for a greater disaster is there," said Thompson.

With inflation hitting almost 12 percent in July this year, those who suffer are not the 350 million middle-class Indians living in cities and towns, but impoverished rural communities, including daily labourers now in the flood relief camps of Bihar.

Inflation is therefore an area of serious concern for the government, which has been taking various steps to check the price rises. But with demand rising and production affected by the floods, it's going to be a major challenge.

Try explaining all this to Shiv, who will struggle to find work when there are no crops to harvest. He'll never buy it.

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