If you're wondering why your weekly grocery bill keeps rising, it's because of a historic global drought. This warning comes from climate experts from Everstream Analytics, per a FoodNavigator report.
What's happening?
Sugar, cocoa, corn, and coffee are climate-sensitive crops, which makes it difficult for them to survive in drought conditions. This threatens food security and causes prices to rise for manufacturers and consumers.
Sugar's price reached a 13-year high in 2024 and is expected to increase. Since sugarcane is a water-intensive crop, worldwide droughts are causing serious concerns.
"Similarly, drought conditions in West Africa and other major growing regions has led to cocoa shortages, forcing prices to hit a record high," per FoodNavigator.
Corn crop yields have also decreased; if conditions don't improve, they could reach critical levels.
Additionally, flooding has hit beverage and food supply chains, which misleads people into believing there isn't a severe drought problem.
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Why is a worldwide drought concerning?
As summer crops are being planted, the lack of moisture isn't an issue. However, "as crop moisture demands increase later in the spring, this will be a critical area to monitor," per FoodNavigator.
According to The Guardian, extreme weather changes "could lead to food shortages."
Max Kotz of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said, per The Guardian, that until polluting gases reach zero, "heat and drought extremes will continue to intensify across the world, causing greater problems for agriculture and food prices than those we are currently facing."
What's being done about global droughts?
The beverage and food industries are working to strengthen their supply chains, and with extreme weather events increasing, they are likely to intensify their efforts to mitigate the problem.
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Definitely 😭 Mike Ogg, regional head of Africa and the Middle East at Bonsucro, said, per FoodNavigator, "By implementing context-specific agricultural practices, farmers can mitigate and adapt against climate change and future-proof them the best they can to secure their livelihoods and avoid the worst-case scenario that is predicted via the climate resilience modeling."
As for what you can do to save money, with some savvy planning, you can shop smarter at the grocery store. Many people buy too much, which wastes about $750 a year. If you reduce the amount you buy by 15%, you can save $110.
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