How to Profit from the Coming Food Crisis

Someone once said the most appealing message for retail investors is an idea that combines a crisis with a way to become wealthy that only a select few are privy to. You’ll often see this in respect to gold. The U.S. dollar is on the verge of collapsing so act now and buy gold. For some reason, people really like the idea of a crisis befalling their fellow man while they rise to the top. We’re not sure if becoming wealthy while watching others experience misfortune is the ultimate rush, but it’s a good way to get clicks. Unfortunately, the title of this article is anything but clickbait.

The Coming Food Crisis

There’s trouble brewing, and it’s not just the domain of conspiracy theorists. Put together the pieces and there’s every reason to be alarmed. Sri Lanka is simply a remarkable country to visit, or at least it used to be. Months ago, the country defaulted on its debt amid massive protests. Inflation surpassed 50% in June while nine out of ten Sri Lankan families are skipping meals. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when the president decided last year to (checks notes again) ban fertilizer, a move that decimated crop production. When the country started subsidizing fertilizer in the 1960s, they saw rice production triple. Now, the reverse is happening. A recent piece by Bloomberg talks about how “rice production in the last harvest season had already plunged 40% to 50%,” while “seed and fertilizer scarcities could shrink crop yields by as much as 50% this year.”