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Food shortages in Sri Lanka

PostPosted: 13 Jul 2022, 09:25
by cromwell
This aspect of the riots in Sri Lanka isn't much reported.
The corruption of the politicians may be mentioned, the fact that the country is broke is mentioned, but the fact that Sri Lanka was once self sufficient in rice but now isn't, that is not mentioned.

What has happened is:-

1/ They had a vicious Covid lockdown of Chinese proportions.

2/Then they pursued an organic agricultural policy , banning fertilisers , which within 6 months has seen a 20% collapse in agricultural output , requiring them to import $450 million worth of rice , seen a 50% increase in food prices , as well as impacting on their agricultural exports like Tea.

It is almost as if we mustn't be made aware of what is happening to places like Sri Lanka lest we lean about what is being put in place for us . It is as if nations around the world, including us, are following One/Two/ Three path to ruination .

1/ Trash supply lines with Covid restrictions.
2/ Jack up costs via high energy prices
3/ Collapse food production.

And it is not as if we are so far away from Sri Lanka's experience, for they have jacked up the cost of fertiliser prices here and are taking agricultural land out of food production. Where is that going to lead?

Re: Food shortages in Sri Lanka

PostPosted: 13 Jul 2022, 10:30
by Workingman
Not so sure.

We didn't trash supply lines with Covid restrictions, that has been a global thing and is still with us.

We didn't jack up costs via high energy prices. The broken energy market system and its spivs did that.

And our food production woes have been with us for at least two hundred years. They have not been helped by unregulated immigration and us building on every scrap of land we can lay our hands on. The fertiliser issue comes from the first two.

Having said that the outlook is gloomy.

Re: Food shortages in Sri Lanka

PostPosted: 13 Jul 2022, 14:37
by Suff
Workingman wrote:Having said that the outlook is gloomy.


There really isn't much more of a plan than "suck it and see". Population keeps going up, farmland keeps going down and farming intensity is being reduced with the lack of fertilisers and other chemicals.

In the end there is a crunch point. What happens when food from outside is no longer available? The people will riot, destroy things break the country and then what? There will be less food and less infrastructure to help produce more food. Hastening the deaths of people. As more people die, more riots, more broken infrastructure, more people dead from lack of food.

This is the future of a CO2 driven warmer world. It is also a future of humans who do nothing to grow food but believe that by shouting and breaking things food will magically appear.

We're too stupid so survive.