The world's economic crisis is threatened by hunger. Australia experiences a spike in inflation and natural disasters.

 The world is currently in chaos, the economy is overshadowed by a potential recession, and war is still heating up. However, the world must also be faced with food scarcity, which has now spread to several developed countries, such as Australia, which is the latest "victim" of the crisis.

Changes in the weather were the main trigger for the food crisis, but were later exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. When the problem was not over, the situation was even more dramatic with the Russo-Ukrainian war that broke out earlier this year, which made food prices expensive.

In addition, soaring oil and gas prices also affected fertilizer prices, which in turn increased harvest and production costs.

Using data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the world food price index has increased from 2018 until this year. The increase in the food price index also pushed up hunger and malnutrition rates to reach more than 828 million people worldwide.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on September 12, 2022, gave its projections on world food supplies ranging from corn, wheat, and rice to soybeans.

These four commodities are high-carbohydrate sources and form the basis of food menus around the world. So its availability is often the main focus and will certainly affect world food prices in the future.

However, of the four main commodities, only wheat is projected to increase its availability. Meanwhile, corn, wheat, and rice are predicted to experience a decline in stock in the 2022–2023 period.

CORN

Global maize inventories in 2022/2023 are projected to fall by 2.2 million tonnes to 304.5 million tonnes due to lower production from Ukraine, the European Union, and Thailand.

Although corn production in China, Ukraine, Canada, and Mozambique has increased, it has not been able to compensate for the reduced production.

 WHEAT

Global wheat supply in 2022/2023 is expected to increase by 3.6 million tons to 1,059.6 million tons, in line with increased production from Russia and Ukraine.

Russian wheat production in the period 2022–2023 is expected to rise to 91 million tonnes in yields for winter wheat. Meanwhile, production from Ukraine is projected to increase by 1 million tons to 20.5 million.

However, more global supply increased global consumption by 2.4 million tons, from 791 million tons.

Even so, the global ending inventory for the 2022–2023 period is predicted to increase by 1.2 million tons to 268.6 million tons.

 RICE

The 2022/2023 global outlook for rice supply is projected to be lower due to higher consumption and reduced supplies. Supply is projected to decrease by 4.4 million tons to 692.9 million due to lower production from China, India, and Pakistan.

Production in China was reduced by 2 million tons to only 147 million due to drought conditions in southern China. Meanwhile, India's production was reduced by 2 million tonnes to 126.5 million, triggered by a drought in the northeast. The decline in production will be India's first reduction in rice production since 2015/2016.

Production in Pakistan fell by 500,000 tonnes to 8.4 million due to floods in August 2022 and reduced rice production.

On the other hand, world consumption in 2022/2023 increased by 0.6 million tons to a record 519.3 million tons. The projected global ending inventory in 2022/2023 will decrease by 5 million tons to only 173.6 million tons.

SOYA BEAN

The final 2022/2023 global soybean stockpile is estimated at 98.9 million tonnes, down 2.5 million tonnes due to lower production from the United States (US) and low inventories in China.

The world's food scarcity is getting real. Many countries in the world have felt it. Developed countries are no exception, such as Europe and Australia.

 EUROPE

As is known, wheat is the raw material for making bread. Bread is the mainstay of food for millions of people on the Blue Continent. The price of bread shot up after the Russo-Ukrainian war, which hampered the world's supply of wheat.

The European Union (EU) Statistics Agency, Eurostat, noted that the price of bread in August 2022 was 18% higher than in the same month the previous year. Eurostat says the price of Continental bread is at its highest.

"They were on average 18% higher in August compared to the previous year. "In August last year, the average increase in bread prices in the EU was only 3%," the agency wrote.

Of a number of countries, Hungary is the one with the highest increase. Bread in Goulash Country has recorded an increase of up to 65.5% throughout the year.

On the other hand, France experienced the slowest price growth. Within a year, the baguette country experienced an increase of up to 8.2%.

This rise has brought new fears about the economy. The reason is that the continent is also hit by inflation, and it is difficult to find a substitute for bread and other wheat products.

Meanwhile, bread is not the only product experiencing sharp price increases. The combined price of bread and cereals has risen 16.6% in the Eurozone, the highest increase since January 1997.

In addition, food and beverages increased by 12.4%. For housing and electricity, there was a 19.7% jump in prices in a year.

In fact, inflation in the euro zone in September 2022 skyrocketed again to 10% on an annual basis (year-on-year/yoy), up from inflation in the previous month of 9.1% yoy. The inflation rate is the highest in history.

The high inflation rate was caused by the increase in energy prices, which remained high, reaching 38.3%, and the increase in food prices by 10.6%. In addition, the price of services also rose 3.8%, and non-energy industrial goods rose by 5%.

 AUSTRALIA

In addition to the main food commodities above, their availability is also threatened. In fact, developed countries like Australia are experiencing a shortage of potatoes.

Most recently, citing News.com on Tuesday (18/10/2022), Australia was hit by a potato crisis due to crop failure due to high rainfall. As a result, a number of restaurants and pubs find it difficult to get the raw materials to make french fries.

Not only that, the scarcity of potato chips also occurs in supermarkets. Some potato brands in Australia, such as Smith's, Twisties, Sunbites, Burger Rings, and Tasty Toobs, are hard to find in well-known supermarkets such as Coles, Woolworths, and Aldi.

The reduced supply of potatoes makes the price soar, so consumers have to pay more.

According to the latest Foodbank report, the Kangaroo Country is included in the list of countries that have the greatest potential to experience a food crisis due to soaring inflation and natural disasters. The Foodbank projects that as many as 500,000 households will find it difficult to get food, causing people's nutrition to be disrupted.

Foodbank's chief executive, Brianna Casey, said the situation was the worst in her six years at the agency.

I've never seen anything like what we're seeing now. It would surprise a lot of people that we're seeing worse levels of food insecurity than at the peak of the pandemic... People have come out of the pandemic, in many cases, in a more vulnerable position than when they came in, "he said.

 Foodbank itself explains that among those experiencing food insecurity, 64% say this is the result of an increase or high cost of living, and 42% point to "low income or reduced government benefits" as the main cause.

In addition, flooding on the East Coast of Australia that occurred in the period between March and July 2022 added to the pressure by destroying crops, causing a spike in food prices.

Foodbank's findings are also based on a nationally representative survey conducted in July on food insecurity in Australia. The results also mention that this crisis is more severe than previous studies.

"The report says 21% of Australians, or more than 2 million people, have experienced severe food insecurity in the last 12 months. "That's up from 17% in the 2021 report," the Guardian wrote.

Currently, Australians have to at least seek help from local charities to get food supplies. They also have to spend at least AUD 100 to AUD 150 just to buy a few bags of groceries at the Woolies supermarket.

The projected reduction in the availability of the world's main food commodities will further increase the potential for food shortages and, of course, will push the world's inflation rate back up again.

Various compact financial institutions allocate special budgets for countries experiencing difficulties. The World Bank has prepared a budget of US$ 30 billion.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) disbursed US$ 10 billion. In addition, the IMF also provided assistance by establishing the Food Shock Window program to overcome the global food crisis. In fact, if necessary, the G20 countries will provide debt relief.