Is The Global Food Chain At Risk?

Ashutosh Pandey, DW: Will coronavirus spark a wave of food nationalism?

A handful of countries are hoarding food items to ensure supplies for their population as the virus crisis deepens. The export curbs could prove especially harmful for poorer nations that survive on imports.

As COVID-19 continues to disrupt trade flows and keeps more than 2.5 billion people under lockdowns, some grain exporters, including Russia and Kazakhstan, are taking a nationalist turn by restricting or planning to restrict exports to ensure enough supplies for their own populations.

The export curbs take place against the backdrop of panic buying that has left supermarkets with aisles of empty shelves. The scarcity is not due to a shortage of supplies but to logistical hurdles created by measures to contain the pandemic.

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WNU Editor: For countries like the U.K. that import half of its food supply, this could be a problem .... How are food supply networks coping with coronavirus? (Jonty Bloom, BBC).