Agmates Editor Steve Truman writes;
Source: This article appeared in the New York Times 4 days ago. To read it all click here.
The Deniliquin mill (pictured below), the largest rice mill in the Southern Hemisphere, once processed enough grain to meet the needs of 20 million people around the world. But six long years of drought have taken a toll, reducing Australia’s rice crop by 98 percent.
Ten thousand miles separate the mill’s hushed rows of oversized silos and sheds - from the riotous streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, but a widening global crisis unites them.
The collapse of Australia’s rice production is one of several factors contributing to a doubling of rice prices in the last three months - increases that have led the world’s largest exporters to restrict exports severely, spurred panicked hoarding in Hong Kong and the Philippines, and set off violent protests in countries including Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Italy, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, the Philippines, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
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This email received by Agmates today puts a human face on it all.
It is produced unedited:
To: Agmates
From: IAN WAKELING
i have been reading about gamba grass.
I have just returned from Indonesia to visit my family as i have been married to indonesian lady for 20 year.
When i was over thier my family had to put up in a hotel for the only reason was that thier whir protests in the street.
About food etc.
Also i feel the wages in indonesia is not high enough to cover the cost a bag of rice is nearly 2 weeks wages in indonesia.
I am wondering what will hungary people do.
as i live in hervey bay we paid 25 kg bag of rice $33,00 Au
i feel that the protestors should stop and think re care fully about what thay are doing on the Australia side .
I am luck to have ennough to purchase as much food as i can eat i wonder do these people that protest on such thing are aware of the situration.
Also not only indonesia but other countries have stopped exporting products so thay can feed thier own people,
thats all i have to say.
you have a nice web site.
we are also currently looking to purchase a cattel station.
keep me posted.
Also as world population increases the demand for food will increase also.
If not enough food what will hungary people do i wonder.
I wonder what these people will do that have rasied objection to this sort of thing if people are hungary enough thay may try to take what thay have.
Regards.
Ian
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Update No1: 25th April @ 11.47am
Half of the world’s population about 3 billion people have rice as a staple of their diet.
There are approx a billion people in the world who have to live on $US1 per day. There’s 1.5-billion who are living on $US1.50 a day.
The doubling of the price of rice has pushed as many as 100-million people into poverty. Those people are not trying to pay off a mortgage, buy fuel for a car they just don’t have enough money to buy food for their families.
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