The signs were there
You should have
Bought connections before
Rice jumps as Africa joins race for supplies:
Rice prices rose more than 10 per cent on Friday to a fresh all-time high as African countries joined south-east Asian importers in the race to head off social unrest by securing supplies from the handful of exporters still selling the grain in the international market.
The rise in prices – 50 per cent in two weeks – threatens upheaval and has resulted in riots and soldiers overseeing supplies in some emerging countries, where the grain is a staple food for about 3bn people.
Kamal Nath, India’s trade minister, said the government would crack down on hoarding of essential commodities to keep a lid on food prices. "We will not hesitate to take the strongest possible measures, including using some of the legal provisions that we have against hoarding," he said on Friday.
Last year it was a corn shortage in the Americas as some pinheads in the U.S. decided it would be a great idea to use food crops as fuel for SUVs. This year it's a global rice shortage for a lot of reasons: conversion of agricultural land to other uses, rain shortfalls, population growth, rising consumption in poor countries, etc.
Interesting times, indeed.
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