The human devastation immediately caused by Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar is still undetermined. Some speculate 22,000 - some say it is closer to 50,000. Aid is late due to the reluctance of the military government’s paranoia about allowing outsiders in to help and the disease that may be forthcoming from the disaster could still reap tens of thousands more casualties.

The damage doesn’t stop there, though. The cyclone also devastated vast amounts of the 2007 rice crop. 600,000 tons of rice were expected to be exported this year. Even though people throughout the country are in extreme need of aid and many countries are going through elaborate hoops to get it to them, the government continues the export of non-spoiled rice supply. There may or may not be enough to supply left for the country to feed it’s own people and their government is restrictive about allowing aid to come in even during the cyclone emergency. The people there are starving as insufficient aid reaches them and exports continue.

What the situation means for the world price and supply of rice or for the people of Myanmar in the near future is uncertain. Supplies are already short of demands and prices have already skyrocketed, causing much hardship for people of many countries. Myanmar is not the only country which has suffered weather related damage to rice crops in the past year. The cold snap in the East this winter was definitely not rice friendly. Many countries are restricting exports to feed their own citizens.

There are possibilities that the shortages of rice will be short-lived. The recent flooding throughout the East that destroyed many crops this year, will prime those areas for good crops throughout the coming year…..provided the disasters do not continue. Until that time we can predict rising rice prices, short supplies, and more world hunger.

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