Thursday, September 2, 2010
Russia extends its grain export ban
Russia, one of the world's biggest producers of wheat, barley and rye has decided to lift its wheat export ban. The ban was imposed due to the drought in most parts of Russia which tremendously affected its grains production. However, this lift will facilitate decreasing the wheat prices which have risen by 1.4% over the last month. Even though this export will help in the reduction of the commodity prices of US Wheat stocks, it will solve a bigger crisis at hand- that of hunger and riots due to hunger. Developing countries like India, Mozambique and Zimbabwe are bearing the brunt of high bread prices and this is severely affecting the pockets of the lower middle class families of these countries. Mozambique witnessed second day of riots due to increase in prices of wheat related items such as bread. This brings us to a different question. Should Russia- the largest producer of wheat, undergo a ban on the most basic food item of the poor? Does it not realize the impact it has on the functioning of the different countries of the world due to the ban?
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3 comments:
I agree with the fact that it will affect poor around the world; however, should Russian think about their own population's needs first or others?
Focusing on the questions listed, I feel that Russia has the responsibility to take care of their own economy first before they help the world. If there are people in their own country struggling for food, their focus should remain inside the country. Helping other countries when they have problems internally will not help. Dividing focus, when it comes down to the most basic need of the people: food, is irresponsible. Once Russia solves its internal problems, it should help, or at least provide the possibility of trade between the nations at need. On the other hand, if Russia were to export their wheat, barley and rye to these countries in the article there would be a possibility of flooding these markets which would hurt them in the long run. These countries need to work on becoming self sustaining. It is understandable if there had been some natural disaster affecting a region, and in this case, the United Nations has a task force for such matters.
I agree with Phil. It's great to care about the rest of the world, but the well-being of a country's own citizens should be its government's highest priority. This is often forgotten, especially in America, where our government frequently feels the need to overextend our own resources in order to attempt to alleviate some problem elsewhere in the world.
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