Grow more food

This article on Haveeru writes about the need to grow more food items that can be grown in Maldives.

In our quest for development, Maldives has forgotten about the development of agriculture and only depended on the dollars brought in by the tourist industry. The world is now facing a food crisis and some of the economists in Maldives are telling us to grow more sustainable food. Unfortunately these voices of reason are drowned out by the organised political chaos that is currently prevailing in the name of introducing democratic reform.

Increasing food prices in the world— some of which have more than doubled in two years — have sparked riots in numerous countries recently. Governments are scrambling to contain a fast looming crisis before it spins out of control.

The soaring price of rice has triggered a supply and demand crunch that is hurting some of Asia's neediest nations, forcing governments from India to Philippines to Indonesia to monitor the distribution and avoid social disturbances.

For rice exporting countries like Thailand and Vietnam, the world's two biggest exporters of the grain, the rising demand is a money-spinner with rice now selling at more than US$500 a tonne in Bangkok and nearly as much in Hanoi.
(link Tapei Times)