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The world’s food program has never experienced a similar food crisis caused by the crown pandemic in less than six months.
– Previously, we dealt with a demand or supply problem. These are both, and throughout the world. It makes it unique and we lack an overview, says chief economist Arif Husain of the World Food Program to the Wall Street Journal.
– Very bad
The corona pandemic has made it more difficult and expensive to transport products across borders. Container traffic has decreased by more than 30 percent. Almost 90 percent of international passenger aircraft are on the ground. This also affects air cargo.
– There may be a food crisis in the amount of food available. That is the situation we find ourselves in, ”senior economist Abdolreza Abbassian of the Food and Agriculture Organization tells the business newspaper.
India, the world’s largest rice exporter, keeps rice in stock.
– There is a lot of rice in India. It’s just that we can’t export due to logistics problems. Previously, there were ships to Europe every second or third day. Now it’s only every two weeks, rice exporter Prem Garg tells the Wall Street Journal.
Vietnam, which is the world’s third largest rice exporter, introduced a ban on rice exports in March. The world’s largest wheat producer, Russia, halted all exports until July.
– I can’t imagine how bad this is going to be. The limits are closed and we have no food production ourselves. We were facing famine before the crown crisis. Adding the crown is very bad, “South Sudan’s secretary of state Mabior Garang told the newspaper.
In Indonesia, authorities have deployed rice machines where the poor can get free rice. Unemployment has increased considerably in a country where few have permanent employment.
– People die from economic collapse. It is probably more serious than the coronavirus itself, Zulfan Tadjoeddin of Western Sydney University told ABC News.
– Potential disaster
Vegetables rot at the root. Workers do not get to work and many local markets are closed in Asia and Africa.
– Food security is the key to maintaining socio-economic and political stability. The most important thing is to guarantee enough rice for the population, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte recently said.
According to the World Food Program (WFP), there will be twice as many people threatened by famine in 2020, to 265 million, due to the crown pandemic if immediate action is not taken.
– This is a potential disaster for millions of people who are already very vulnerable and can only eat if they have an income. The closure and a global recession have already led to the disappearance of savings, chief economist Arif Husain recently warned about WFP.
Price shock in the United States
The coronavirus has spread to several slaughterhouses and meat processing plants in the United States in recent weeks. Several companies chose to close the factories after death. More than 200 employees at the Tyson Fresh Meats slaughterhouse in Madison, Nebraska, tested positive for the coronavirus.
President Donald Trump has responded by ordering factories to remain open.
Meat, fish and egg prices rose 4.3 percent in April. The average shopping basket was 2.6 percent more expensive, the largest increase since February 1974. This happened at the same time that more than 30 million people were fired or lost their jobs.
If food prices continue, core inflation fell 0.4 percent in April. This is the largest decrease since the statistics were first compiled in 1957. The main reason is that energy prices fell.
– Food prices increased as we know there are empty shelves. Demand in much of the economy has collapsed and prices are falling, says Peter Boockvar, Investment Manager at Bleakley’s Advisory Group at CNBC.
The range and selection of meat products in American shopping centers is less than usual. Wendy’s hamburger chain, which uses fresh meat, has had delivery problems. According to the Stephens financial institution, one of the five restaurants does not serve meat products.(Terms)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and / or our suppliers. We want you to share our cases using a link, which links directly to our pages. Copying or any other use of all or part of the content may only be made with written permission or as permitted by law. For more terms see here.
