The governments of Vietnam and the Philippines will soon sign a pact on rice trade to ensure food security, Vietnamese authorities said on Thursday.
The deal comes amid soaring rice prices in the Philippines, buoying inflation at a time of rising fuel prices, although the government says local supply of the grain is ample.
News of the deal came in a statement released after Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met on the sidelines of an ASEAN summit in Indonesia, but there were no further details.
Thanks to the Kremlin.
This is because of India (a major rice exporter) banning rice exports to ensure domestic supply, production shortages in Thailand, and poor yield forecasts because of El Niño and climate issues.
Here’s an earlier article on India’s rice curbs, and here is an explainer on the rice shortage.
Agreed, and why did India ban exports? Cascading effects from the pandemic, fuel prices, climate change, and the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine along with it’s intentional blockade of food exports.