A food crisis looms as coronavirus forces farms to stay idle and countries hoard supplies

[CrazyZ]

A food crisis looms as coronavirus forces farms to stay idle and countries hoard supplies
PUBLISHED MON, MAR 30 20201:33 AM EDT

Huileng Tan@HUILENG_TAN

KEY POINTS

• Large-scale lockdowns to contain the coronavirus outbreak have hurt the supply of manpower and disrupted supply chains in the agriculture industry.
• The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization said the world risks a “looming food crisis” unless measures are taken fast to protect the most vulnerable, keep global food supply chains alive and mitigate the pandemic’s impacts across the food system.
• As of now, disruptions are minimal as food supplies have been adequate. But price spikes are more likely for higher value products like meat and perishable commodities rather than for major staples which are still in adequate supply, said the FAO.

Agricultural laborers spray against insects and weeds inside the orchards of a fruit farm in Mesa, California. In this time of the Covid-19 Coronavirus pandemic, agricultural workers have become essential workers in the race to maintain Americas food supply while simultaneously staying healthy.
Brent Stirton | Getty Images

The coronavirus outbreak could affect food security as the global pandemic disrupts labor availability and the supply chain.

“We risk a looming food crisis unless measures are taken fast to protect the most vulnerable, keep global food supply chains alive and mitigate the pandemic’s impacts across the food system,” said the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in a recent post on its website.


The FAO said disruptions can be expected in April and May.

Restrictions on movements and “basic aversion behaviour” by workers could impede farming, said the FAO. Food processors, who handle the vast majority of agricultural products, could also be prevented from processing the farm products.

“We are already seeing, however, challenges in terms of the logistics involving the movement of food (not being able to move food from point A to point B), and the pandemic’s impact on livestock sector due to reduced access to animal feed and slaughterhouses’ diminished capacity (due to logistical constraints and labour shortages) similar to what happened in China,” said the FAO.

As of now, disruptions are minimal as food supplies have been adequate.

But price spikes are more likely for higher value products like meat and perishable commodities rather than for major staples which are still in adequate supply, said the FAO.


Some countries could resort to trade restrictions or aggressive stockpiling in a bid to safeguard food security, which could quickly escalate and support grain and oilseed prices.
Fitch Solutions

Indeed, Fitch Solutions says global food supply is relatively ample with the outlook for the 2020 to 2021 crop year positive with mild weather conditions in key producing regions.

“Grain production in developed markets, usually done on large farms in low-density areas are less prone to contagion, but labour-intensive sectors such as plantations (palm oil) and manufacturing (meat processing) are more at risk of employee contagion and therefore of temporary lockdown measures,” said Fitch Solutions in a recent note.

Malaysia’s largest palm oil producing state, Sabah, ordered the closure of palm oil plantations in three districts after some workers tested positive for the coronavirus disease, formally known as COVID-19.

‘Food protectionism’
Even though there are adequate supplies of staple food, notwithstanding manpower and logistical challenges, any restrictions by countries reserving strategic supplies would heighten risks.

“Some countries could resort to trade restrictions or aggressive stockpiling in a bid to safeguard food security, which could quickly escalate and support grain and oilseed prices,” said Fitch Solutions.

Among the major crop producing countries that have implemented export restrictions are Vietnam, which has curbed rice exports and Russia, which has halted processed grain exports. Kazakhstan has also suspended exports of wheat flour, buckwheat, sugar, sunflower oil, and some vegetables

Such moves could lead to an acceleration of food price inflation during a time when consumers are concerned about lockdowns and have created their own stockpiles at home, said Fitch Solutions.

“The potential implementation of food protectionism measures at the country level in an attempt to safeguard food security, such as export restrictions in key suppliers or aggressive state stockpiling could also significantly disrupt the global food supply,” said Fitch Solutions.

Countries most exposed to a rise in food price inflation include those with elevated imports as a share of domestic food supply, such as the Middle East, China, Japan and South Korea, said Fitch Solutions.

Economies with weakened currencies, such as India and Indonesia are also exposed, as most commodities are denominated in the dollar on the international market.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/30/cor...s-as-farms-idle-countries-hoard-supplies.html

 

[CrazyZ]

World is also facing an acute toilet paper shortage.

 

[CrazyZ]

PH eyes rice imports from India, Pakistan
By: Karl R. Ocampo - @inquirerdotnet
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 04:08 AM March 30, 2020
As countries continue to close borders to protect themselves from the new coronavirus pandemic, the government said it would work with the country’s Asean trading partners to ensure the stable flow of exports.

In a bulletin released by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases on Friday, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said they would be heeding the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) recommendation to work with the Asean to refrain from any imposition of trade-restrictive measures.

This followed Vietnam’s announcement that it would suspend its exportation of rice.

The initiative would also include the Departments of Finance and the Department of Trade and Industry.

If necessary, IATF said it would also tap the state-owned Philippine International Trading Corp. to import 300,000 metric tons (MT) of rice via a government-to-government scheme with non-Asean countries such as India and Pakistan.

This is to avoid any shortfall of the staple, although the DA has assured the consuming public that the country has enough rice inventory for four months.


As of March, data from the Bureau of Plant Industry showed that there were about 492,000 MT of rice that arrived in the country, 409,000 MT of which came from Vietnam.

The latest volume of imports only covered 44 percent of the country’s annual average rice shortfall at 1.1 million MT.

Several farmer organizations have reiterated calls to the government to prioritize the country’s food self-reliance following Vietnam’s announcement, where the Philippines sources most of its rice imports.

“We call on the government to raise NFA’s (National Food Authority) buffer stocking to 30 days as part of the COVID-19 response and in preparation for the usual rainy monsoon months,” the National Rural Women Coalition said. “Boosting government’s inventory to 30 days would require NFA to procure more than 800,000 MT of palay and require a budget of P18 billion, including logistics and handling costs.”

After President Duterte put the country under a state of calamity, palay prices have picked up following a series of decline that began last year as the country is forced to rely on its own production.

In response, the DA has requested an additional P32 billion from the Office of the President, which also includes an additional budget of P7 billion to elevate NFA’s procurement operations.

Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura said it continued to receive reports of farmers who were barred to tend to their farms as local government units (LGUs) insisted on their own quarantine protocols. It has called on the government to address such issues.

The group added that the country’s food producers must be considered as front-liners too, as they relentlessly toil to provide agricultural commodities despite the presence of the pandemic in the country.

The IATF has consistently reiterated to LGUs to allow agricultural workers to continue their operations despite the monthlong quarantine, but the directive seems to be falling on deaf ears.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said they would begin to issue show-cause orders against LGUs that would continue to disobey the order. INQ

https://business.inquirer.net/293678/ph-eyes-rice-imports-from-india-pakistan

 

[52051]

Food shortage is overrated. In China, the main food source, like rice and grain, has a storage for two years, that is, in China, government will buy this year's grain/rice from farmers, and store it and you can only buy grain/rice produced 2 years earlier in the market.

So basically China has the food storage that can feed the entire country for two years, I am sure with such huge storage China can stable the price of food and help critical allies in time of crisis as well.

And besides, coronavirus has little effect on farming, at most meat and protein will be reduced (since in China, imported food source like soy beans are mostly used to feed animals).

 

[Han Patriot]

Food shortage is overrated. In China, the main food source, like rice and grain, has a storage for two years, that is, in China, government will buy this year's grain/rice from farmers, and store it and you can only buy grain/rice produced 2 years earlier in the market.

So basically China has the food storage that can feed the entire country for two years, I am sure with such huge storage China can stable the price of food and help critical allies in time of crisis as well.

And besides, coronavirus has little effect on farming, at most meat and protein will be reduced (since in China, imported food source like soy beans are mostly used to feed animals).

Meat will be the biggest problem. Soybeans are imported for oil n animal feed. US is pretty desperate to export, we are more than willing to buy. Lol