Climate crisis, wars, and trade conflicts are pushing more and more countries to stockpile significant amounts of food products. This trend could turn out to be counterproductive and lead to shortages, even though global production is sufficient, warned the Financial Times before the outbreak of the war in Iran.
In 18th-century Finland, the fear of famine was well known. Around 1690, a famine caused by an invisible mold had killed a third of the population. Then the Great Northern War with Russia had disrupted agricultural activity and everything else [from 1700 to 1721]. So, in 1726, the country began to set aside a portion of its grain harvests to be able to feed the population in case of emergencies.
Three centuries later, this logic is making a big comeback far beyond Finnish borders. Several decades after depleting their reserves and focusing on international trade, governments are increasingly replenishing emergency supplies.
From Norway to Indonesia, passing through Sweden and India, states are stockpiling increasingly significant quantities of rice, wheat, or other basic commodities, as a kind of insurance in a world that seems more and more unstable.
“After the Cold War, we were the only ones to keep stocks,” said Miika Ilomäki, in charge of crisis response capacities at the Finnish national emergency supply agency. “Because you never know what might happen.”
The Finnish strategy, long considered c
