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Coronavirus: food security, Asia’s next battle in a post-Covid world
- In theory there is no reason to fear a food crisis like the one that shook the world in 2007
- But fear itself, spread by the coronavirus, may be enough to trigger one
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In the mist-covered Cameron Highlands of Malaysia, vegetable and fruit farmers are struggling to package and transport their produce as they face a logistical nightmare caused by a nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
In the Philippines, farmers’ rights activists are worrying more than ever about malnutrition among smallholders who – also faced with movement restrictions – are turning to subsisting on their own crops as money needed to buy vegetables and meat dries up.
In Singapore – one of the world’s most well-fed societies – agro-traders are pondering how long supermarkets will stay fully stocked as long-time supplier nations begin imposing export controls.
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On Friday, the city state’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in announcing a shutdown of non-essential businesses and schools to begin next week urged residents to avoid rushing to “stock up for weeks at a time”.
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Before his address, episodes of panic buying were reported in supermarkets across the compact island nation – the third such bout that has gripped the country since the outbreak surfaced there in January.
In theory, there is no good reason anyone should fear a food crisis like the one that roiled global markets in 2007/08, triggering widespread civil unrest as the prices of essential food items surged.
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