What happens when the world’s breadbaskets start failing simultaneously?

By Ekamjot Dhillon, Phd Student, Global Governance, University of Waterloo Agriculture today is a massive, globally interconnected industry. That interconnectivity has brought jobs and varied foods to people who might not otherwise be able to access them. However, like many other industries today, agriculture is dependent on a small number of key regions that support a vast network. What made the modern food system seem resilient was never abundance alone. It was geography. Regions like the North American Prairies, Ukrainian Steppe and northern India grow much of the crops that feed humans and livestock. The system works because crop failures are expected to be local, not simultaneous. If one breadbasket region fails to produce one year, another could cover the shortfall. The Earth itself provides a kind of buffer, but…

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