Global rice supply to see largest shortage in 20 years due to climate change

The extremes of climate change have resulted in rice supply lagging far behind demand, threatening to worsen a global food crisis. According to U.S.-based financial information provider Fitch Solutions, the global rice market is set to log a shortfall of 8.7 million tons for 2022-2023 -- the largest dip in two decades.

Climate change is mainly to blame for the plunging production of rice, a staple food commodity for 3.5 billion people across the globe, particularly in Asia-Pacific where 90 percent of the world's rice is consumed. The price of rice has soared to an average of 17.30 U.S. dollars per hundredweight, more than double the cost in July 2020.

That surge is impacting poorer regions such as Africa along with parts of Southeast Asia and the Middle East. There are also concerns that El Nino, the moving of warm waters toward South America, could mean further drought in Asia.