The Worldwide Investor

While much of the western world takes rice for granted, it is the staple crop through most of Asia, providing the people of that region with the majority of their daily nourishment. The quadrupling of prices over the past 5 years has meant that many of the region’s poor have struggled just to obtain food, despite the tremendous pace of economic growth on the entire continent. Many of the poor farmers of Thailand, though, have been reaping the rewards of sky high rice prices.

Rice, being one of the cheapest crops to grow, has sustained generations of people throughout Asia. In 2002, the crop traded at less than $.04/lb, but has since climbed 4x, crossing the $.15/lb just in the past few weeks. As regions in the world have seen a scarcity in their rice supplies, many have forbid farmers and wholesales from exporting the product. India and China, which consume nearly 50% of the world’s supply of rice, have both indefinitely halted exportation of the product. This is a significant move by India especially, which is the world’s second largest exporter of the crop.

Thailand is the world’s largest exporter, with over 1/4 of the world’s supply originating in that country. With fertile land primed for rice production along the banks of the rivers north of Bangkok, the farmers in this region have seen their profits swell to all time highs. This has caused much optimism among the rural workers and has lessend the economic discrepancy between Thailand’s urbanites and poor rural citizens.