The world gets hungrier - Maize (corn) and Rice sees large increase in pricing
“Let me put it this way, I voted against the bill because I didn’t want to make it harder for people to buy milk” - Gov Barltet, discussing why he voted against a increase in price of milk - As a reference that In 2006, The poverty rate for minors in the United States was 21.9% - highest child poverty rate in the developed world
Which leads me some articles that have been published lately.
Maize (Corn), Rice and Wheat are the 3 largest food sources in the world, producing close to a combined 2 Billion metric ton a year.
Hence when pricing changes for any of these crops, it has a gigantic effect on the world population at large, and especially poor people, far more so than the changing of oil prices (which is a luxury product). Oil prices do affect the prices of Maize primarily due to Maize being used for Ethanol, and due to the increased price of Oil, a larger amount of Ethanol is used and subsidized, where you have a larger margin than on Maize used for Food. Hence the maize is more lucrative to sell for energy purposes than for food consumption. So the cycle of Nature comes to play.
The New York Times had a great article on the possible impact on the increasing price of rice. Depending on location, the price of rice has increased heavily during the last year or so, and the pricing inflation far surpass any GDP growth of any country in the world.
That made me worried enough, knowing the enormous power Rice has in Asia.
Rice stands as the premier food source for around 3 Billion people on earth, so the slightest price change has a massive effect. The president of the World Bank, estimated that 33 countries in the world, faced potential social unrest primarily due to the increase in food prices.
Then i read that the price of Corn had surged almost 30% this year.
Maize/Corn being a huge part of the nutrition for people in the Americas, Corn is used primarily as food for livestock in the US, and due to that the developed world will see an increase in the price of meet.
I have no idea where it’s heading, but it’s certainly not heading somewhere good.
“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food” -Universal Declaration of Human Rights
