The Indian rice export ban, the war in Ukraine and El Niño are combining to create a "doom loop" for the world's poorest people, as staple food prices soar.

The Indian rice export ban, the war in Ukraine and El Niño are combining to create a “doom loop” for the world’s poorest people, as staple food prices soar.

    • morrowind@lemmy.ml
      144155·
      1 year ago

      Can we please not have silly jokes on a serious topic like global hunger?

      This is one thing I don’t want from reddit

      • Anissem@lemmy.ml
        1969·
        1 year ago

        If I don’t laugh about the world I’ll just start crying. It’s sadly the defense mechanism I’ve developed. I use humor to avoid uncomfortable moments in all aspects of my life.

        • TheSaneWriter@lemmy.thesanewriter.comEnglish
          931·
          1 year ago

          I agree, humor is a valid coping mechanism. It’s not like a serious conversation on Lemmy is going to solve world hunger, your joke was fine in my opinion.

          • Anissem@lemmy.ml
            363·
            1 year ago

            I’ve had a lot of trauma in my life and have become a very pessimistic and dark person. Everyone has their cross to bear and I wear mine with a fake smile.

        • barsoap@lemm.ee
          17·
          1 year ago

          It’s not sadly the defence mechanism you developed, but luckily.

          Because face it some defence mechanism is needed, and the vast majority of them are absolutely harmful. Fuck the ruffled feathers those are the exact kind of people who say “I’d rather ignore it”, “I’d rather deny it’s happening”, “I’d rather say that it’s bad everywhere”, “I’d rather say it’s because of the Jews”, “I’d rather sit here and unproductively wallow in pity”, or whatever. You are a human, and as such you have the birth right to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

      • SeedyOne@lemmy.ca
        965·
        1 year ago

        It may sound silly but it’s put succinctly and there’s an element of grim truth to it.

        Additionally, do we have to compare everything to Reddit? It’s the Internet, people are going to cope how they cope.

      • oce 🐆@jlai.lu
        5710·
        1 year ago

        I’m sorry if this disturbs you but free humour is one of the extremely important aspects of the internet that Lemmy needs to support. When you know who you are talking to you can avoid subjects that may hurt the other person but on the public internet this is not possible. The alternative to never dare making any joke because of the risk to hurt someone is dystopian.
        Top comment isn’t even a joke, it’s a movie reference that supports the idea that this is a serious topic.

      • NuPNuA@lemm.ee
        7·
        1 year ago

        Some of us can only deal with existential horror by laughing and the absurdity of it all.

  • o_oli@lemmy.worldEnglish
    143·
    1 year ago

    More very real effects of global warming that will be ignored or blamed on other things no doubt.

    Global warming will fuck us indirectly before the weather on a Sunday afternoon is actually the problem, many seem to miss that.

    • Green_Bay_Guy@lemmy.ml
      35·
      1 year ago

      In Vietnam we’re losing crop because of saltwater backflow on the Mekong. Dams have been built in several places upstream and all the reservoirs are being filled.

  • flyingsquirrel@lemmy.ca
    10614·
    1 year ago

    Mainwhile, Russia is actively engaged in the destruction of Ukraine wheat export terminals, and India remains silent.

    • Zeroxxx@lemm.ee
      1467·
      1 year ago

      India, Indonesia and the rest of non alignment countries do not need to enter this war set up by the West.

      • astral_avocado@programming.dev
        325·
        1 year ago

        I agree with you that India doesn’t need to take sides, but I’m pretty sure Russian/West cooperation had been increasingly positive since the cold war ended, right until Putin decided he wanted to be an imperialist again. The West didn’t make him invade a sovereign, non-threatening country.

        • Zeroxxx@lemm.ee
          1143·
          1 year ago

          Russia imperalist is akin to someone bombing Iraq, Vietnam and Afghanistan?

          LOL

              • fluxion@lemmy.worldEnglish
                13·
                1 year ago

                Iraq was a bullshit war. Cheney, Bush, and Rumsfeld should be in prison for lying to American public to involve us. The Iraqi civilian death toll was obscene. Few will disagree with this.

                Ukraine is a bullshit war. Putin should be in prison for lying to involve Russia in it. Few outside Russia disagree with this.

                It’s not a soccer match. These statements are self-consistent, not contradictory.

                • hglman@lemmy.mlEnglish
                  22·
                  1 year ago

                  I agree; the joke is that multinationalism is used as a shield. Russia is a far-right fascist state just like America has a right and a far right party, just like how Europe is sliding back to fascism, and while China dives into its thought police hell world all while all of the above exploit the rest of the world and or there own citizens to push nationalism to its upmost cancerous potential untill the whole house of cards snaps on the inferno thtis clmiate change.

          • FiskFisk33@lemmy.world
            141·
            1 year ago

            yes, your point being?

            Russia is excused because USA is also doing bad stuff? Because that is a weak fucking argument.

      • NuPNuA@lemm.ee
        151·
        1 year ago

        Enter the war, no. Make a simple moral comment on who the agresssors are and that they should stop, years.

      • YⓄ乙 @aussie.zone
        111·
        1 year ago

        From what I read India and Russia are really old friends, that’s why India isn’t saying anything and they do lot of business.

        • sfgifz@lemmy.world
          8·
          1 year ago

          Historical and political reasons too. USA keeps arming Pakistan with modern weapons, and they have a single target to use them on. It would be stupid of India to put all it’s weight behind US if that’s a one-sided affair. In an ideal world everyone would side with what is moral, unfortunately we don’t live in that world.

        • nestEggParrot@lemmy.sdf.org
          3·
          1 year ago

          More than old friends. India is heavily reliant on russian arms. Replacing them would be a slow, expensive process. Considering it is surrounded on two sides by aggressors with regular conflicts, jeopardizing relations with Russia is not an option.

      • Duamerthrax@lemmy.ml
        495·
        1 year ago

        This reads like an ironic shitpost. No one can seriously believe that one person saying mean things can rationalize an invasion that’s killing thousands and hurtsling food security for millions.

        • OurToothbrush@lemmy.mlM
          128·
          1 year ago

          Tbf “Asians are subhuman” is what the nazis used to justify killing millions of Russians, Ukrainians, and other USSR ethnicities. Millions of ukrainian red army soldiers are rolling in their graves.

          • Duamerthrax@lemmy.ml
            107·
            1 year ago

            1. I can’t find one source for this that doesn’t come back to elrisala.

            2. Even if this story is true, one asshole doesn’t justify the genocide that Russia is committing in Ukraine.

            3. Even if this story is true, it happened long after Russia started their “special military operation” and can’t be used to justify it.

          • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
            113·
            1 year ago

            I can point you towards many racist political figures throughout history who weren’t fascist. Racist is not the same as fascist. Sure, fascism usually requires creating an in group and an out group, but it’s also a lot more than that and needs to be larger than one person. Even if this person is a fascist, it still doesn’t even mean anything. He doesn’t have the political power to do anything fascist with.

        • NuPNuA@lemm.ee
          72·
          1 year ago

          Lemmy.ml and lemmygrad instances are full of tankies. Way I see it it’s only a matter of time before they defederate due to having to deal with sane people since the site blew up or people defederate from them as they’re just bloody annoying.

              • UFO@programming.dev
                11·
                1 year ago

                While true, at which point does defederating make sense? Been wondering this myself. Reality is full of bad actors so we should be capable of countering these threats without purely relying on censorship. OTOH that takes time and energy best spend elsewhere.

                • NuPNuA@lemm.ee
                  2·
                  1 year ago

                  I think it all depends on user levels. At present the activity isn’t that much that mods can’t deal with any arguments the difference in opinion creates. When you get to Reddit user levels that becomes a lot more difficult.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    812·
    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    The cost of rice — a staple food for nearly half the world’s population — and other essentials, like wheat, corn and vegetable oils, are rising as geopolitical forces, extreme weather and a dawning El Niño disrupt global trade.

    In its most recent rice outlook, the USDA said India was expected to ship a record 23.0 million tonnes in 2024, exceeding the combined shipments of the next two largest exporters — Thailand and Vietnam.

    The Indian government runs the world’s largest food distribution program, catering to about 800 million people, according to McDonald Pelz business manager Sumit Gupta.

    The Indian government has a policy of maintaining reserves of key commodities, and as it assessed the risk of El Niño, and the rapid pace of rice exports this year, it brought the trade to a close on July 20.

    “This sharp increase in exports can be ascribed to high international prices due to [the] geo-political scenario, El Niño sentiments and extreme climatic conditions in other rice-producing countries,” the Indian Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said in its statement declaring the ban.

    At a conference in St Petersburg recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged 25,000-50,000 tons of free grain to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic and Eritrea in the coming months.

    I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • Nijuu@lemmy.world
    26·
    1 year ago

    Is 70% correct?. I thought Thailand and Vietnam were just as big of producers? (we get more rice from thailand/vietnam/cambodia/+ grow our own locally here in australia). I never buy basmati…

    • woooferine@lemmy.world
      33·
      1 year ago

      Hong Kong here. We have rice almost everyday and apparently, we don’t import them from India. Yet the “Rice Association” said that due to the India ban, the price of rice in Hong Kong will likely to rise by 10% in October.

      The nations used to import from India are buying from everyone else, and that drives up the prices.

      Edit: typo

      • NuPNuA@lemm.ee
        11·
        1 year ago

        Same as our energy in the UK, we were never reliant on Russia for our gas, but because countries like Germany didn’t cut themselves off fast enough they were suddenly bidding up what we usually buy when the sanctions came in.

    • Parsnip8904@beehaw.org
      16·
      1 year ago

      Because they’re really different. People who don’t eat rice as a staple aren’t aware how much varieties there are and how different they taste. There are three specific varieties used just in my own house for lunch, breakfast dishes and dinner respectively.

      Japanese or Thai rice are totally different in taste, consistency and texture.

      It would be like trying to bake using whole wheat flour instead of refined flour.

    • YⓄ乙 @aussie.zone
      94·
      1 year ago

      I think its the quality and people only want to consume high quality rice… I tried Thai jasmine and Indian basmati. Can confirm Indian Basmati is really good when compared to jasmine rice.

      • coleandfries@discuss.tchncs.de
        24·
        1 year ago

        Asian guy here. I use jasmine for Asian dishes, Basmati for Indian and middle eastern dishes, and generic American long grain for Mexican and Cajun dishes. Pairing the right variety of rice with the right cuisine is a simple choice that can really improve the dish.

      • FiskFisk33@lemmy.world
        17·
        1 year ago

        hmm, I generally prefer thai jasmine over basmati

        they are very different styles, saying one is higher quality than the other is just plain wrong.

        • Zeroxxx@lemm.ee
          1·
          1 year ago

          At the end of the day, it is about preferenxe. I am Chinese diaspora and have been eating Jasmine more than Basmati since it is not my preference.

          Heck even local rice is better.

      • electric_nan@lemmy.ml
        11·
        1 year ago

        It’s just whatever you’re used to. Thai jasmine rice is amazing, and I wouldn’t eat Thai food with anything else. If you’re used to eating Indian food with basmati, jasmine won’t be a good substitute.

        • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.netEnglish
          3·
          1 year ago

          I’m used to Minute rice since that’s what my parents used growing up. Not sure what kind of rice that is, but the first time I made something that called for Basmati rice, I didn’t like the rice. It was sweet when I expected earthy. The rest of the recipe was good, and I just use jasmine rice with it instead every time thereafter, since that’s what I buy now over the boxed crap.

      • ijeff@lemdro.id
        11·
        1 year ago

        Must be preference because I greatly prefer Thai Jasmine rice over Indian Basmati. But they’re different.

    • EnderWi99in@kbin.social
      363·
      1 year ago

      Log off social media for a bit there. Things aren’t great out there, but I’m being absolutely sincere that this environment is a negative feedback loop that makes it out to be even worse. We all need to step away from time to time. Come back in a week we will all still be here.

        • Kikkertje@aussie.zone
          293·
          1 year ago

          Worrying about something you can’t control isn’t going to make things better either.

          • pinkdrunkenelephants@lemm.ee
            11·
            1 year ago

            Assuming it’s about control or that you can’t control it is the worst. There’s always something we can do about our problems. To think otherwise is to allow yourself to be consumed by them.

            • barsoap@lemm.ee
              92·
              1 year ago

              I feel like you didn’t read the Stoics. Start here:

              Work, therefore to be able to say to every harsh appearance, “You are but an appearance, and not absolutely the thing you appear to be.” And then examine it by those rules which you have, and first, and chiefly, by this: whether it concerns the things which are in our own control, or those which are not; and, if it concerns anything not in our control, be prepared to say that it is nothing to you.

              Worrying about shit outside of your control is not just unproductive, it’s counterproductive as it’s distracting you from stuff that actually is in your control.

              • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
                33·
                1 year ago

                Rationalizing fears, justifying inaction. It’s too late, there’s nothing we can do. If your reaction to climate and collapse is to do nothing, you are part of the problem. Learn about overshoot and aerosol demasking. Read Limits to Growth and get back to me.

              • PlushySD@lemmy.world
                1·
                1 year ago

                Well, being right doesn’t mean people have to like you tho… And most of the time people don’t like being told that they’re wrong too. So, that’s I guess where the downvotes came from.

                • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
                  1·
                  1 year ago

                  I don’t care about downvotes, or if anyone likes me. As long as I can get them to take climate change seriously and inform them that collapse will happen in their lifetime.

  • TheBestUsername@lemmy.world
    155·
    1 year ago

    The Indian rice export ban, the war in Ukraine and El Niño are combining…

    There’s a war in El Niño? What does that even mean? I thought El Niño was a weather thing, not a location.

  • PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml
    1122·
    1 year ago

    I’ve always wanted all countries to ban staple food and water exports. If you can’t grow your own food and have your own water, you don’t need to have people living there.

    • OhShitSon@lemm.ee
      281·
      1 year ago

      I mean, Russia man did illegally invade another country and ordered several warcrimes, so yeah, Russia man bad.

        • CreativeTensors@beehaw.org
          151·
          1 year ago

          I think we can all agree unprompted expansionist wars of aggression are bad, are you allowed to say that with me or are you within defenestration distance of a window?

          If you are blink twice.

                • CreativeTensors@beehaw.org
                  5·
                  1 year ago

                  I’m ok with the non-answer

                  If they are human it could be dangerous for them to continue the conversation. I don’t know what they believe or if they are under duress. Or they aren’t and have simply had a moments reflection. Maybe not, maybe they just want to be done with this since neither of us are going to change our minds.

                  I’m kind of done with this too.

        • argv_minus_one@beehaw.org
          3·
          1 year ago

          Buddy, if it were up to me, W, Cheney, and Putin would spend the rest of their lives in a cell together. They’re all war criminals.

    • distractionfactory@beehaw.org
      3·
      1 year ago

      “Warmonger bad” FTFY

      Blame those who start and continue wars. It’s not entirely the fault of any one country, but there’s only one leader who could put a stop to this latest one.

      Conditions? yeah like that’s not just going to inject needed capitol for an extended conflict so they can keep it going at this point. I don’t like how tangled up the world is getting in to this mess and I definitely don’t like how much it’s impacting civilians, but sanctions is clearly not the ONE thing keeping this war going, it was a response to it. It certainly didn’t start it and it’s clear that some leaders value pride over logic. Money isn’t solving that issue (more or less) now that it’s started even if it started as a distraction from economic problems. Whatever that leader is telling the people, he’s the only one who can end this. We need to end this mess. I’d encourage you to be open minded about what factors are keeping this war going, but I understand that’s hazardous in some parts of the world.

        • distractionfactory@beehaw.org
          2·
          1 year ago

          Without being directly involved, the media / news / social media is the only information anyone has access to if you don’t know someone with first hand knowledge and even that is probably anecdotal. So that is unfortunately impossible to avoid.

          There’s certainly justification for comparing self serving military actions of the US. It doesn’t make it right whoever is doing it. It’s hard to see this as directly comparable, but I am sure I don’t fully understand the situation so I am hesitant to argue details. But from an uninformed perspective it seems difficult to deny who is the aggressor who could just stop at any time.

    • LemmyLefty@lemmy.world
      885·
      1 year ago

      Referring to the potential starvation deaths of a large group of people as a positive for climate change is like saying you’re glad someone died early from a car accident instead of suicide.

          • BaconIsAVeg@lemmy.mlEnglish
            618·
            1 year ago

            This bot needs to die, or at least be upfront about what it is. I’m fine with piracy, but don’t dress it up as “privacy respecting open source”. If you don’t agree with Youtube’s model, then just don’t use it.

              • BaconIsAVeg@lemmy.mlEnglish
                12·
                1 year ago

                Look, I love using pipe-viewer, but I’m not childish enough to think it isn’t piracy. But I guess whatever you feel your entitled to…

      • CookieJarObserver@sh.itjust.works
        2136·
        1 year ago

        Yes, but im just a very positive thinker today!

        (is irony dead? Does everything need the /s? Are people so insane they think someone would writing that in a serious note…)

        • LemmyLefty@lemmy.world
          445·
          1 year ago

          Honestly? Yeah, I thought you were serious, because I’ve seen that attitude expressed before. Generally it’s more “this hazy, unspecified population can be sacrificed to help me deal with the existential dread that me and my world are walking off a cliff” than “dear me I so DO delight in death”, but it makes my teeth ache.

          Thank you for clarifying, and I’m sorry for jumping on you.

          • CookieJarObserver@sh.itjust.works
            720·
            1 year ago

            For real? (serious) a nuclear war might be beneficial because mostly citys of big polluters will be taken out, starvation always hits those that already basically don’t pollute. So that argument would make 0 sense regardless…

            And i don’t think a nuclear war is exactly what we want… There are better ways than to suicide on species level…

        • 133arc585@lemmy.ml
          213·
          1 year ago

          From the rest of your comment history? Yes, it’s entirely believable. It’s more surprising that you’re walking it back, really.

        • darthelmet@lemmy.world
          151·
          1 year ago

          Eh, the way it was written I wouldn’t have read it as sarcasm. Text and tone yada yada. That said, I’ve definitely seen people who seriously think like this.

          • CookieJarObserver@sh.itjust.works
            320·
            1 year ago

            For real? (serious) a nuclear war might be beneficial because mostly citys of big polluters will be taken out, starvation always hits those that already basically don’t pollute. So that argument would make 0 sense regardless…

            And i don’t think a nuclear war is exactly what we want… There are better ways than to suicide on species level…

            Edit to clarify that im not in favor of nuclear war…

            • Drusas@kbin.social
              8·
              1 year ago

              It’s called Malthusianism (after the philosopher Malthus) and, yes, it is a real philosophy.

                • Drusas@kbin.social
                  5·
                  1 year ago

                  Sort of. Malthusians believe that disasters which take out large numbers of people help to keep the population in check and are therefore necessary. Obviously a little oversimplified, but that’s about what it boils down to.

          • CookieJarObserver@sh.itjust.works
            315·
            1 year ago

            My entire existence is basically a joke so don’t take me too serious.

            In general its a better approach to think everything on the internet is satire until clarified that its not, way better for your believe in humanity, trust me.

            • ToastedRavioli@lemmy.world
              4·
              1 year ago

              I see a lot of people on the internet say some pretty horrible shit with a lot of conviction. Sorry that you’re having a rough time. Hopefully adding more clarity to your communication helps a bit.

      • Aux@lemmy.world
        24·
        1 year ago

        Yeah, once they cannot afford the food they stop making any CO2.

        • bloodfart@lemmy.ml
          9·
          1 year ago

          Not sure if you caught the text of what they’re saying: people who can’t afford to eat rice starving to death aren’t removing much of humanity’s carbon footprint.

            • bloodfart@lemmy.ml
              10·
              1 year ago

              Where you suggest twice that nuclear war would be good or that your whole life is a joke?

              I feel fucked up ways about stuff too. Nothing wrong with it and all that negativity’s gotta go somewhere. Just wanted to head the ecofascism train off at the pass.

              • CookieJarObserver@sh.itjust.works
                26·
                1 year ago

                I literally clarified that while it would help against climate change its not something that is a good option at all and that im against it…

                Its a Example of some fucked up view that would at least make sense on a technical level, unlike making food prices higher and killing those that already don’t pollute like at all…

                • bloodfart@lemmy.ml
                  2·
                  1 year ago

                  It doesn’t make sense even on a technical level. Cities are all near water and their fallout plumes would irradiate huge swaths of the earth to the east in addition to everything downstream.

                  The infrastructure of civilization is all clustered around cities as well, so we’d lose access to the best spots to live.

                  I got nothing but sympathy for you, thirty years ago that bit would have killed. Today everyone assumes you’re serious.

    • Spzi@lemm.ee
      27·
      1 year ago

      It’s culling the wrong demographic. Removing poor people is the least efficient. Removing the poorest will have the least effect possible.

      These comments always make me wonder wether it’s a lack of education, bad taste or racism.

      • CookieJarObserver@sh.itjust.works
        110·
        1 year ago

        Can people like you maybe read a little further down the thread, like i literally explained in detail why that comment is completely ridiculous and i don’t understand how someone could take it as a serious comment.

        Its literally a joke.

        • Spzi@lemm.eeEnglish
          51·
          1 year ago

          Yes, I read it before. No, it didn’t change much. Where’s the joke, what’s funny about this?

          On the other hand, too many people write these comments seriously, which is enough reason to counter them.

          It’s downplaying the climate crisis and normalizing racism. You can insist it was done in a lighthearted way, but that’s not so relevant.

        • Spzi@lemm.eeEnglish
          7·
          1 year ago

          Except the people who prefer to pay less for their goods and services. They depend on people willing / forced to work for very little; they need the poor.

          Also this is not a business where you could hire and fire people based on what is ‘needed’, and you’re not the boss.

          These are humans with exactly the same right to food as you.

  • tallwookie@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7126·
    1 year ago

    so eat something else? if you’re reliant on a grain crop that you cant even grow yourself, you’ve never had food security. plenty of other grain crops that are cheaper to grow than rice (which requires a massive amount of water). those pictures of people that live in arid environments means they’re not growing rice, ever

      • tallwookie@lemmy.worldEnglish
        13·
        1 year ago

        perhaps. i’d argue that it really is that simple. for decades, many countries in areas that are well known, historically, for having famines have been importing most/all of their food because the food was available for export by other countries that are very good at growing things & they had excess. now those countries have stopped or drastically curtailed exports. the end result is that the famine countries cannot buy their way out of famine - and now the population isnt just a few hundred thousand but tens of millions.

    • ProvableGecko@lemmy.world
      321·
      1 year ago

      if you’re reliant on a grain crop that you cant even grow yourself, you’ve never had food security.

      I guess I’ll die

    • AnonTwo@kbin.social
      171·
      1 year ago

      Maybe those cheaper crops aren’t readily available to them? It does say it will mainly hit the poorest people…

    • pingveno@lemmy.mlEnglish
      71·
      1 year ago

      so eat something else?

      Agreed, but this is going to require changes by governments. Certain crops often get subsidies, whether they’re the best option or not. There are healthier grains that can stand up better to climate change than rice. Many governments are so stuck into subsidizing specifically rice that they have backed themselves into a corner with a thirst crop that isn’t all that nutrient dense. And unwinding those subsides is unpopular, even if it’s ultimately the right thing to do.

    • nodsocket@lemmy.world
      24·
      1 year ago

      Most rice in the world is poisoned by pollutants anyway. Since rice grows in water it collects arsenic from pesticides and when you eat it regularly it puts you at risk for a wide variety of arsenic related diseases. Ironically, the rice with the least amount of nutrients (white rice) also has the lowest arsenic levels.