image source: http://dipolognon.com/WhatIsThePriceOfRiceNow042808.JPG
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The Philippines has been importing rice since 1869 based on the information from the article: "The Problem With Rice" written by Ma. Rea Felinda Apun, Conrad Bidaswa, and Merve Kirikkanat. It is very disappointing to know that a country, that provides big numbers of rice grains to be eaten by people, is still importing rice from other countries and suffering from rice shortage which results to a constant increase in price. So what are the reasons behind this shortage? There are several causes of scarcity in a society but some of the primary causes are overpopulation, global warming, and natural disasters.
Scarcity is the lack of supply of a product in a society just like the issue that the Philippines is experiencing with rice. The term "Scarcity" is mostly used in Economics which is the study of how societies handle their scarce resources. An example of scarcity in our world today is when people would normally want more and more resources as time passes by which is caused by the growing population and the demand of developing countries for these resources. However, these resources such as rice, are continuously consumed on a daily basis, do not have an unlimited supply to satisfy the unlimited want of the people.
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CAUSES
Overpopulation
Overpopulation is when an excessive number of people living in the same area are too crowded to the point where the area does not have enough resources available to satisfy the needs of the people. In the context of the Philippines, the scarcity of rice is a result of overpopulation. The Philippines, according to the data provided by www.worldometers.info, had an annual growth rate of 1.73% in 2014 and 2015 which is one of the highest growth rate percentages in South East Asia with nearly 101,800,000 people as of July 1, 2015. The more people living will result to a even more need of supply of rice to fulfill the needs of the people which results to the scarcity of rice products.
IMAGESOURCE: http://cdn.tradingeconomics.com/charts/philippines-population.png?s=phl+sp.pop.totl&v=201507101429
Another explanation to the rice shortage is global warming. Yes, it does not only affect animals and humans, but crops as well. How does global warming affect the production of crops such as rice? Global warming can easily affect the production of crops as it needs higher temperatures than most of the other crops in order to grow properly. This is caused by the unforeseen increase or decrease in temperature which can seriously damage, not only rice, but most crops in the world. Based on research conducted by DM. Olszyk and K.T. Ingram, due to the ozone layer depletion caused by human activities, tropical countries such as the Philippines will definitely get affected by the Ultra Violet B, or UV-B, rays from the sun and could possibly reduce the growth of crops and affect the production rate of rice. With the the possible decrease of the production rate of crops, prices of crops such as rice can dramatically increase with all the demands of the market.
Natural Disasters
Natural disasters such as typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis, are also a cause to the scarcity of food especially to the countries where most of these disasters are frequently happening. The Philippines is a located in the Pacific Typhoon Belt meaning that it is frequently visited by typhoons. These typhoons and other natural disasters can destroy the farms and fields where the farmers grow their crops, especially corn and rice which can greatly affect the production of the crops and its economy. Another country that is often visited by these natural disasters more particularly landslides and earthquakes is Haiti where most of there economy greatly relies on Agriculture just like the Philippines.
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EFFECTS
Who are affected?
Rice is an essential part of a meal in the Philippines and if these causes continue to take part in the production of rice, an even greater lack of supply of rice can happen which can affect the price of the rice, rice producers (farmers) and the millions of people living the Philippines.
IMAGESOURCE:http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/16/xin_0020405162009984211276.jpg
From the article "Rice shortages heighten political crisis in the Philippines" dated April 8 2008 written by Oscar Grenfell, "Globally, stocks of rice and other foods have plummeted, resulting in a steep rise in prices.". A sudden price change can most likely happen when overpopulation happens and there is a scarce number of a resource. How can this happen? Let's take rice for example. When more people are living, the more rice is demanded as it is essential for our growth, therefore the production rate of rice should increase in order to satisfy the needs of all the people. However, when the production of rice will not be able to cope with the demand of the people, there will be less rice available therefore an increase in price in the market.
Many would think that scarcity of crops such as rice would only bring negative effects to the people affected however this issue can also have a positive effect to the farmers producing the rice. A positive effect that the scarcity of rice could bring is that producers or extractors of these resources such as farmers can create more profit as the price would increase. This is a result to the increased demand of the people caused by issues such as overpopulation. The farmers would need to produce more rice for the people to consume and that would enable the farmers to generate more money since more rice will be sold.
Scarcity can also bring long term effects such as the possibility of starvation for the less fortunate people who don't have enough money to spend for the rice. People who do not have proper jobs to spend for his or her needs and his or her family might not be able to afford the rice which can result to starvation and can possibly do damage to their health. If the prices of rice continue to increase at this rate, there will be a point where less people will be able to afford rice and many families who cannot afford the rice will suffer from starvation which can lead to early death.
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Solutions
A solution to this issue is to invest in in the agriculture business. The Philippines has a lot of potential growth in the agriculture business. Even though the country is known for its agriculture industry, there can still be improvements to the industry. An example of these improvements are better locations and bigger farms for the farmers. The bigger farm lands means that there will be an increase in production as there will be more crops to produce. This will not only increase the production of crops such as rice but the farm animals as well as there will be more space for animal reproduction. This will not only boost the country's agriculture but it can also end the importations of rice from other countries.
In the past years, the country has invested to advertise the country's tourist spots to boost the country's tourism. Maybe if the Philippine government would also invest in better farm lands and better tractors, farmers will be attracted and be more motivated to produce more crops for the country. It will also increase the country's economy since agriculture is a primary industry of the Philippines. An example of a place the Philippines can invest in is Mindanao, there are hectares of lands that can be converted into farm lands. If the government happens to invest to improve the agriculture industry, the country can increase its rice production and will not have to depend on other countries for the rice. This will also boost and make the Philippine's economy stronger since it will end the country's imports of rice and instead, export the rice to the other countries.
As a student, how can we help?
As a student, we can help this issue by not wasting our food, more particularly the rice. This simple solution might not have a huge impact however as young adults of the society, we can lessen the demand for rice and lower its price through eating only what we can consume. This would help other people specifically the less fortunate people so that they will be able to afford the rice.
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Sources:
- http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/02/half-u-s-farmland-eyed-private-equity/
- https://ateneoeconomics.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/analyzing-rice-crisis-in-the-philippines/
- http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/hunger/commentaries/73333-problem-rice-shortage-philippines
- http://www.statista.com/statistics/255971/top-countries-based-on-rice-consumption-2012-2013/
- https://www.google.com.ph/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=sp_pop_grow&idim=country:PHL:THA:IDN&hl=en&dl=en
- http://irri.org/rice-today/trends-in-global-rice-consumption
- http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/agriculture.html#impactscrops
- http://us.ecocompass.com/blog/effects-of-global-warming-on-crop-production
- http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-causes-of-scarcity.htm
- http://dailytape.com/2011/08/18/factors-causing-the-scarcity-of-economic-resources.html
- http://www.groundswellinternational.org/sustainable-development/haiti/frequent-natural-disasters-devastate-farmers-limit-food-supply-in-haiti/
- http://www.ciesin.org/docs/004-036/004-036.html
- https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2008/04/rice-a08.html