Grain shortages around the world endanger tens of millions of people
It is reported that grain production has been significantly reduced all over the world due to the effects of the war that broke out between Russia and Ukraine and the heat wave that struck India. The economist of the economic media argues this issue as 'the world's grain shortages endanger tens of millions of people.'
A world grain shortage puts tens of millions at risk | The Economist
The La Niña phenomenon, which began in mid-2020, and the epidemic of the new coronavirus infection have disrupted agricultural operations and supply chains in various regions, causing a global grain shortage. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) reports that the number of people undercapacitated in food has increased from 108 million to 193 million over the past five years, at the Munich Security Conference in February 2022. 'We need to deal with the situation right away,' he said.
However, the situation continued to worsen as Russia invaded Ukraine shortly after this conference. Russia is the world's number one wheat exporter, and Ukraine is also number six. These two countries alone will account for 28% of wheat exports in 2021, but grain prices have skyrocketed as Russia has significantly reduced grain exports due to economic sanctions from each country and Ukraine has cut off its own exports. bottom.
In addition, a record heat wave struck India, the world's third-largest wheat producer, in March, significantly reducing wheat yields and imposing wheat export restrictions in the country. As of May 2022, The Economist reports that there are 26 countries such as India that impose export restrictions on food.
'East Asian countries can switch their diet to rice, but Europe and North Africa eat twice as much bread as the United States, so there will be dramatic changes in their diet,' said The Economist. .. Poor countries, where most of their income is spent on food, are particularly affected, pointing out that debt burdens can become unsustainable.
Olena Nazarenko, a farmer in Kyiv, Ukraine, who was heavily damaged by the war, has obtained the fertilizer needed for spring wheat through a large loan, but has not yet planted wheat in Russia. He says he was occupied by the army. Nazarenko's farm was damaged by the bombing on tractors and livestock, he said, 'I can't pay my salary. I'm doing my best to pay interest on the loan.'
In Ukraine, of the grains harvested in 2021, 25 million tons that were supposed to be exported are still left in the country. Ukraine's Ministry of Agriculture, Mikola Solsky, says, 'The export volume, which was 5 million tons a month before the war, has increased to 1.1 million tons in April.'
Although there is a shortage of grains in many countries, farmers are considering switching to crops with lower input costs instead of planting grains with unstable selling prices. For example, many farmers in the United States are switching from corn to soybeans.
'With the world's real incomes declining significantly, the heavy burden on hungry countries seems to bring significant social and political imbalances,' said The Economist.
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