Last month, food prices in Britain increased by 19% compared to the previous year. In Spain, farmers are concerned about the potential irreversible damage to wheat and barley production due to a lack of rainfall. Meanwhile, record numbers of people in West and Central Africa are facing potential food shortages.
Despite this, some European countries, including Poland and Hungary, have blocked the entry of farm products from Ukraine, one of the world’s largest grain exporters, citing the flood of cheap imports as detrimental to local farmers. To address the growing discord, the European Union is considering a temporary ban on grain imports to five nations.
The combination of rising prices for consumers in one part of the world and falling incomes for farmers in another highlights the complexities of the global food market. Climate change, violent conflicts, pandemic-related supply chain bottlenecks, and burdensome debts were already affecting the market before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
2023-04-20 16:21:53
Link from www.nytimes.com
