S Jaishankar: A fresh warning on global food security has come amid continued pressure from geopolitical conflicts on supply chains for energy, shipping, and agriculture. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar cautioned that the world faces a “food crisis on the horizon” in the coming months if any of the stress flows from conflicts persists.
Why does the food crisis warning matters?
Food production is dependent on a number of interconnected systems, such as fuel, fertilizers, transport, and international trade. Any interruption to one component of the system can have cost implications across the entire food system. Increased fuel prices also increase the costs of shipping agricultural products between farms and markets. Fertilizer shortages and high prices of Fertiliser increase pressure on farmers and may also affect future production.
DON'T MISS
Conflicts could put global food supplies under pressure
The ongoing turmoil in Ukraine and the broader West Asian region has compounded the focus on global commodity flows. Grains and agri-foods have high interdependence on ships, while energy is tightly linked to transportation and agricultural production expenses. Recent coverage of Jaishankar’s comments focused on the possibility of the disruptions to grain shipments, fertilizer supplies, and energy markets coming together to create broader food-security problems.
What could happen to food prices?
A major food shock may impact countries in different ways according to their reliance on imports, home production, and strategic stocks of food. Countries that import more of their food might also be more impacted by rising global prices. Developing countries and lower income individuals might be disproportionately affected because a higher proportion of their expenditures on food. But Jaishankar’s warning does not necessarily imply an impending global food crisis. It will ultimately depend on how long the geopolitical disruption lasts, how supply chains cope and how governments react.
India also has a role in world food security
S Jaishankar: In the case of India, the developments in the rest of the world markets continue to matter as international commodity price movements can impact inflation and production cost. India has deployed to control supply pressure is through food stocks, trade policy and domestic farm support. The usefulness of these measures in a sustained international disruption would be contingent on the magnitude of shock and its duration.
