Emergency Stockpiling in Vogue as Global Food Insecurity Concerns Mount
(9 July 2024 - Norway) Several countries are amassing stockpiles of grain and other foodstuffs to ward against a potential commodity market crisis.
To shield Norway from supply chain disruptions, geopolitical trade impacts and harvest failures, up to 82,500 tons of state-owned grains will be stored by private companies. The government plans to have enough milling wheat to last three months by 2029.
Governments display rising concern towards securing food supplies for rapidly growing populations. In recent years, supply chains have been adversely impacted by shocks such as the pandemic, Ukraine war, crop-export bans, tariff barriers, shipping disruptions and volatile weather. Inflationary pressures have placed extreme strain on consumers at the checkout also, making food and farming a key issue in recent election campaigns from the United Kingdom and France to India and the United States.
"Countries are getting more and more nervous. We are all pretty much aware that climate change is making food and farming harder for everybody. Price volatility continues to be a major problem that countries are looking for extra security. Stockpiling is expensive, uses a lot of infrastructure and needs to be managed properly given the perishable nature of food" commented Sciences Po Paris based Adjunct Professor of Global Food Politics, Chris Hegadorn.
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