[ti:Food Export Bans Risk Fueling Inflation in Many Countries] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]In April, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India was ready [00:06.52]to increase exports of wheat to "feed the world." [00:11.88]The South Asian nation was looking back [00:15.88]on five straight record wheat harvests. [00:20.24]However, high heat that decreased wheat production [00:26.04]and the highest inflation in eight years led to a change [00:30.92]in policy for the nation of 1.4 billion people. [00:37.52]One government official, who asked to not be identified, [00:42.48]said Modi's office ordered a stop [00:45.80]to wheat exports because of high inflation. [00:50.68]Inflation was in part what caused the toppling [00:55.00]of the Congress Party government in 2014. [01:00.48]India is one of at least 19 countries [01:04.52]that have introduced food export restrictions [01:08.56]since the war in Ukraine began. [01:12.44]Violent protests have started in some developing nations [01:17.24]as international trade in several agricultural products decreases. [01:24.44]Countries including India, Indonesia, Argentina [01:29.28]and Serbia have imposed restrictions. [01:33.80]Economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, [01:39.04]extreme weather, and supply chain problems [01:43.48]have threatened many places with hunger. [01:48.04]The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said in April [01:55.32]that the number of people facing severe food insecurity [02:00.76]had doubled since 2019. [02:04.64]The WFP estimates that 276 million people [02:10.92]in the 81 countries in which it operates are at risk. [02:16.96]Now, as exports from two major agricultural producers are affected, [02:23.52]the WFP predicts that number will increase by at least 33 million. [02:32.68]World Trade Organization members can ban [02:36.88]or restrict exports on food or other products [02:41.32]if the move is temporary and is needed to relieve "critical shortages." [02:49.24]India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told Reuters last month [02:54.84]that he had been in contact with the WTO [02:59.00]and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). [03:05.00]He said India needed to explain that it has to deal [03:09.56]with food security, prices, and hoarding. [03:14.84]Michele Ruta is an economist with the World Bank Group. [03:20.52]He said export restrictions risk worsening the rise in world food prices. [03:28.28]He said restrictions produce a domino effect [03:32.28]as a deepening crisis [03:34.36]causes other countries to take similar steps. [03:38.12]Many economists said the world food crisis [03:43.52]is already more severe than the last one in 2008. [03:49.96]Simon Evenett is a professor of international trade [03:54.92]and economic development at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. [04:02.40]He said, "This time around that is harder to do [04:06.76]as we do have a supply hit here in both Ukraine and Russia." [04:13.08]He said the size of summer harvests in major food producers [04:18.44]would help predict how the situation develops [04:22.40]in the second half of 2022. [04:25.68]Information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture [04:30.36]shows that Ukraine and Russia [04:33.08]provided 28 percent of world wheat exports, [04:38.64]15 percent of corn exports, and 75 percent [04:44.84]of sunflower oil exports in the 2020 to 2021 season. [04:53.28]I'm Dorothy Gundy. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM