WILLAGRI
Across the world, food producers are increasingly frustrated with hits to their livelihoods from higher costs and red tape. In protests from Paris to Delhi, their complaints are resonating as inflated costs and access to staple goods remain key worries for voters in rich and poor countries alike.
Agriculture was a big beneficiary of the past quarter century of globalization and free-flowing trade. Now, as nations raise tariffs and hand out more subsidies to prop up domestic producers, the need to ensure affordable nourishment for growing populations has given farmers more political leverage.
That’s either a political problem or an opportunity in a year with dozens of key elections in important economies.
Something else is adding to the frustrations on the farm: Climate change is threatening to disrupt crop production and is spawning new environmental rules that are making it tougher to produce the raw materials for the world’s food supply.
Source : bloomberg.com