Food crisis of 2007 and 2008 may be upon us again
Fears of a global food supply crisis are now entrenched as Russia announced a 12-month extension of its grain export ban, bringing the world ever-closer to the food insecurity of 2007 and 2008.
Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia, made the announcement even as the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN called an emergency meeting to discuss the developing food shortages.
On Thursday, widespread riots in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, left 280 injured and 7 dead after protesters took to the streets to oppose a decision by government to raise the price of bread by 30%.
The government of Mozambique has found itself increasingly unable to subsidise the price of bread in the country following the spiraling price of wheat on global markets.
Their announcement was met by desperation and anger from millions who cannot afford the increasing cost of staple foods such as wheat.
Currently, the world’s food supply is more abundant than it was in 2007 and 2008, the nature of the problem is not one of a global shortage, but a shortage of supply to regions of the world where the rampant prices are no longer affordable.
The price of wheat has soared in recent weeks on the back of widespread droughts in Eastern Europe, wildfires in Russia, floods in Pakistan and mudslides in China, which have seen the global supply severely reduced and the price subsequently pushed up by demand.
It was a similar situation that led to the food shortages in 2007 and 2008. The price creates a disparity between nations that can afford the increased price of wheat and those than cannot.
In 2007 and 2008, this disparity was the worst in over 30 years and caused chaos in many developing countries.
Riots were put down in countries from Bangladesh to Mexico and several governments collapsed due to food insecurity.
In the 1980s the food crisis was more severe, with millions dying across the world due to famine. Ethiopia has become the stereotyped face of this dark and tragic moment in world history, for it suffered the worst with up to a third of its population hit by famine.
It is a situation such as this that the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation is seeking to prevent with its meeting, which will see exporters and importers of wheat meeting to discuss ways to navigate the crisis.
The price of wheat has surged by 70% in the last six months with some analysts warming that it may doubled, a scenario that would cripple the food import capacity of many developing countries.
Source: South East Asia News.Net
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