this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2023
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The Indian rice export ban, the war in Ukraine and El Niño are combining to create a "doom loop" for the world's poorest people, as staple food prices soar.

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[–] [email protected] 164 points 2 years ago (39 children)
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[–] [email protected] 143 points 2 years ago (1 children)

More very real effects of global warming that will be ignored or blamed on other things no doubt.

Global warming will fuck us indirectly before the weather on a Sunday afternoon is actually the problem, many seem to miss that.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 2 years ago

In Vietnam we're losing crop because of saltwater backflow on the Mekong. Dams have been built in several places upstream and all the reservoirs are being filled.

[–] [email protected] 91 points 2 years ago (38 children)

Mainwhile, Russia is actively engaged in the destruction of Ukraine wheat export terminals, and India remains silent.

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[–] [email protected] 78 points 2 years ago (1 children)

This is the best summary I could come up with:


The cost of rice — a staple food for nearly half the world's population — and other essentials, like wheat, corn and vegetable oils, are rising as geopolitical forces, extreme weather and a dawning El Niño disrupt global trade.

In its most recent rice outlook, the USDA said India was expected to ship a record 23.0 million tonnes in 2024, exceeding the combined shipments of the next two largest exporters — Thailand and Vietnam.

The Indian government runs the world's largest food distribution program, catering to about 800 million people, according to McDonald Pelz business manager Sumit Gupta.

The Indian government has a policy of maintaining reserves of key commodities, and as it assessed the risk of El Niño, and the rapid pace of rice exports this year, it brought the trade to a close on July 20.

"This sharp increase in exports can be ascribed to high international prices due to [the] geo-political scenario, El Niño sentiments and extreme climatic conditions in other rice-producing countries," the Indian Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said in its statement declaring the ban.

At a conference in St Petersburg recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged 25,000-50,000 tons of free grain to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic and Eritrea in the coming months.


I'm a bot and I'm open source!

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 2 years ago

At the same time as Ukrainian wheat issues with the blockade could be a really big issue.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 2 years ago

When staple foods (rice/wheat/beans/corn) inflate in price the poor starve.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Is 70% correct?. I thought Thailand and Vietnam were just as big of producers? (we get more rice from thailand/vietnam/cambodia/+ grow our own locally here in australia). I never buy basmati.....

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