El Niño-induced dry weather conditions in India and Thailand, the second- and third-largest sugar exporters worldwide, are resulting in the highest prices for the commodity since 2011, with global sugar reserves hitting a 14-year low.
According to Fabio Palmeri, a global commodities market researcher at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a 2% or a 3,5 million ton decline in global sugar production could be expected in the 2023/24 season, compared with the previous season.
Euronews reported that this was just the latest setback for developing nations already having to cope with shortages of staple foods such as rice, as well as other constraints on the global food trade, which was exacerbating food inflation.
“All of it contributes to food insecurity because of the combined effects of the naturally occurring climate phenomenon El Niño, the war in…
