We know that history repeats itself, but the rapid frequency of repetitions is possibly what the world isn prepared for.
As the world reeled from a food crisis in 2008, it occurred after 35 odd years after the food crisis of the 1970s, caveat of another food crisis in 2010 is already looming, only two years after the last one.
As Russia announced an extension of its wheat export ban into late December 2011, the month of September began with the first food riots in Mozambique, injuring 280 people after the government announced an increase of 30 percent in bread prices.
While Russian droughts are one of the reasons spurring the rise in wheat prices, supplies from other exporting nations have also been dwindling.
Parched conditions in Argentina, Ukraine, and extreme rains in Canada, severe floods in Pakistan and a virulent wheat fungus that destroyed the crop in Africa have greatly constrained wheat supply, spiking prices up on supply-demand dynamics.
Adding to the ado, sugar prices have also rallied as concerns of a limited sugar harvest in Brazil due to severe droughts leading to tight supplies, against rising demand from Pakistan and Russia after extreme weather conditions.
Raw sugar had climbed to a five-month high at 20.49 cents per pound, while white sugar continued its upward drive, standing at $592.3 per ton.
Where some of the major edibles were hovering at peak prices, meat prices soared globally to a 20-year high with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisations index of meat prices rising to over 135 in August.
A contagion effect is observed here as rising grain prices have fueled feed prices, and consequently, livestock farmers have dropped production. In addition, a consistently increasing demand from emerging economies, as they move to a more protein-rich diet, is adding fuel to the price hike.
A lot also depends on oil prices as petroleum is the main constituent for manufacturing fertilizers and pesticides. Further, as oil prices rise, demand for alternate bio-fuels increases, putting a strain on food crops as resources are diverted towards fuel crops.
Though oil prices have been at a comfortable level in recent past, the dynamics of future oil prices will play a significant role in sizing up a possible food crisis.
The situation in Pakistan is dangerously mirroring the global scene as massive crop destruction after the floods impends as a harsh reality. With 725,000 tons of wheat destroyed, 500,000 tons of lost sugar output due to destruction to the sugar cane crop, and up to 15 percent damage to the rice crops, the situation is far from satisfactory.
Perished livestock numbered 200,000 according to the UN FAO, but the toll is most probably higher including damage to poultry. As diseased animals are nearly good for nothing, the destruction is colossal, which will also have a spillover effect on the dairy industry of the country.
Pakistans grave situation has also been a driver for the precarious global food situation. Its about time one buckles up their appetites, because the dinner plate will now be dearer than anyones liking.
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