“Countries have imposed restrictions on the food they export to protect their own supplies from the combined effect of the war in Ukraine, El Nino’s threat to food production and increasing damage from climate change,” writes the Associated Press.
“Tanzania’s onion limits this year are part of the “contagion” of food restrictions from countries spooked by supply shortages and increased demand for their produce, said Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute.
“Globally, 41 food export restrictions from 19 countries are in effect, ranging from outright bans to taxes, according to the institute.
“This isn’t the first time food prices have been in a tumult. Prices for staples like rice and wheat more than doubled in 2007-2008, but the world had ample food stocks it could draw on and was able to replenish those in subsequent years. But that cushion has shrunk in the past two years, and climate change means food supplies could very quickly run short of demand and spike prices, said Glauber, former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“I think increased volatility is certainly the new normal,” he said.”
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This piece has been republished in multiple international and national media outlets including Voice of America, Japan Today, and Turkey Post.