Food shortage
Wheat supplies have reached an all-time low. Given this situation, as reported by the media, the meteorological forecast of a drought in Australia, an important wheat exporter, can trigger a minor tremor on the world's food market where prices are constantly hitting new all-time highs. Of course, the current uproar over rising food prices revolves around a lot more than consumers paying some extra money for rice, soybean oil and flour. The real issue is how we will be able to feed ourselves in the future, and at what price. How can agriculture feed a world that grows by 80 million people each year? How can agriculture feed a world that is increasingly exposed to climatic change?
Perhaps, the problem is that there is too much demand and not enough land. In a world hungry for agricultural products, the dilemma is that each acre of arable land can only be used for one purpose at any given time. Potatoes can't be grown where paddy is cultivated. Where wheat is grown, there is no room left for maize. And when grains and seeds are converted into bio-fuel, there is no maize left for consumption. This fundamental conflict drives up the prices of agricultural crops. There are growing fears that Bangladesh as well as Pakistan or Afghanistan, and largely, the entire world could soon face a food crisis, and that the current bottleneck could expand into widespread starvation.
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