Looking at the map below you will see that New Zealand and Australia are in a strong position food-wise as a few countries start to stockpile food in response to the pandemic.
[…] Some governments are moving to secure domestic food supplies during the conoravirus pandemic.
Kazakhstan, one of the world’s biggest shippers of wheat flour, banned exports of that product along with others, including carrots, sugar and potatoes. Serbia has stopped the flow of its sunflower oil and other goods. Russia is leaving the door open to shipment bans and said it’s assessing the situation weekly.
To be perfectly clear, there have been just a handful of moves and no sure signs that much more is on the horizon. Still, what’s been happening has raised a question: Is this the start of a wave of food nationalism that will further disrupt supply chains and trade flows?
[…] Though food supplies are ample, logistical hurdles are making it harder to get products where they need to be as the coronavirus unleashes unprecedented measures, panic buying and the threat of labor crunches.
[…] The specter of more trade restrictions is stirring memories of how protectionism can often end up causing more harm than good. That adage rings especially true now as the moves would be driven by anxiety and not made in response to crop failures or other supply problems.
As it is, many governments have employed extreme measures, setting curfews and limits on crowds or even on people venturing out for anything but to acquire essentials.
[…] “You could see wartime rationing, price controls and domestic stockpiling,”
Some nations are adding to their strategic reserves. China, the biggest rice grower and consumer, pledged to buy more than ever before from its domestic harvest, even though the government already holds massive stockpiles of rice and wheat, enough for one year of consumption.
As governments take nationalistic approaches, they risk disrupting an international system that has become increasingly interconnected in recent decades.
Kazakhstan had already stopped exports of other food staples, like buckwheat and onions, before the move this week to cut off wheat-flour shipments. That latest action was a much bigger step, with the potential to affect companies around the world that rely on the supplies to make bread.
There is no need for New Zealanders to panic. The farmers who have always been the backbone of our economy will get us through the pandemic. The pandemic has been a life lesson for those who valued tourism over our farmers. When the going gets tough the tourism dollar disappears but our farmers are the ones who will keep us all fed. I sincerely hope that our Green MPs take note of this life lesson and that they don’t return to their farmer bashing ways.
We all now know what a real emergency looks like and their pathetic climate change emergency should be put firmly into the dustbin of history where it belongs.
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