Food crisis creating chaos around the world
Friday April 18, 2008
Some of the world’s top scientists have emphasized that aggressive actions are needed to slash emissions to stop global warming.
Experts also agree that global warming is real and accelerating. They argue humans are fouling up the atmosphere with carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases.
While global warming continues to be a big concern, there is another issue that needs attention. In recent weeks, I have been watching television reports on food crisis being felt around the world. This major issue does not receive the publicity it deserves.
Escalating food prices have triggered riots in Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan, Guinea, Mauritania as well as many other countries in Africa and Asia. Aid agencies around the world are openly expressing fear they may not be able to feed the poorest of the poor.
This is a big concern for the United Nations and some of the major powers of the world. Price of rice has been climbing at a rapid pace. Philippines, one of the largest importers, has announced plans to buy one million tons and some of the world’s largest exporters cut sales to ensure they feed their own people.
Seaway News, Friday, April 18, 2008 pg. 11
Rice is a staple food for many countries around the world and particularly in Asia. Nearly half the world depends on rice for food.
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has pledged to crack down on hoarding. Anyone, she said, found guilty of stealing rice from the people will be jailed.
This concern about food shortages is shared by an international organization. “We are in for a tough time,” said Roland
Jansen, chief executive officer of Mother Earth Investments AG. Unless prices decline, he said, people will have a huge problem of daily nutrition for half the planet.
In the Philippines, officials have been raiding warehouses looking for unscrupulous traders hoarding rice. In South Korea, panicking housewives have been stripping grocery store shelves of food like rice and other products like noodles
made from wheat.
Food staples have become too expensive for millions because of sudden and dramatic surge in prices. Rising
prices for cereal crops as well as growing scarcity have created a tricky situation.
Rice producers like Egypt have decided to stop exports for a while to meet domestic demand. This is not good news for countries like Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan who depend on Egyptian rice. Vietnam, the world’s second largest rice exporter after Thailand, has also drastically cut exports.
The international rice market is currently facing a particularly difficult situation with demand out stripping supply and substantial price increase.
A senior economist for the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations said the worldwide rice market is currently facing a difficult time with demand outstripping supply and substantial price increase.
Today, China, India, Egypt, Vietnam and Cambodia have either imposed minimum export prices, export taxes or export quotas.
Countries that rely heavily on rice imports are Bangladesh, Indonesia and Iran. Rice is the staple food for about three billion people.
Meanwhile, the World Bank estimates that 33 countries around the world face potential social unrest because of the hike in food and energy prices. Robert Zoellick, the bank’s president, said for those countries there is no margin for
survival.
Ismailimail 