Archive for May, 2022

World Leaders Accuse Russia of Using Ukraine’s Food Supply as a Weapon

Courtesy of the New York Times, an article on global leaders’ accusations that Russia is using Ukraine’s food supply as a weapon: Fears of a global food crisis are swelling as a Russian blockade of Ukrainian seaports and attacks on its grain warehouses have choked off one of the world’s breadbaskets, deepening fears that President […]

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The Coming Food Catastrophe

Courtesy of The Economist, commentary on how war is tipping a fragile world towards mass hunger Vladimir Putin will destroy the lives of people far from the battlefield—and on a scale even he may regret. The war is battering a global food system weakened by covid-19, climate change and an energy shock. Ukraine’s exports of grain and oilseeds have mostly stopped […]

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India Stands Between World and Food Riots

Via Reuters, an article on India’s role in making up global grain shortfalls resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: India’s pledge to feed to the world still holds more than a grain of truth. After global wheat supplies were disrupted by the war in Ukraine, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India was ready to step […]

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How To Prevent Food From Becoming A Weapon Of War

Via The Hill, commentary on how to prevent food from becoming a weapon of war: The conflict in Ukraine has exposed the fragile geopolitics that underpin global food systems, threatening the health, livelihoods and wellbeing of millions of people around the world. Just as Europe is now counting the cost of relying on imported fossil […]

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Fisher Groups Become The Marine Militia in Indonesia’s War on Illegal Fishing

Via Mongabay, a look at how Indonesia has incentivized fishermen to patrol their local waters: Indonesia has a vast maritime area, but not enough personnel to patrol and monitor for illegal and destructive fishing. To address this gap, in recent years the government has incentivized fishers and other coastal communities to form monitoring groups that […]

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Russia Accused of Industrial-Scale Farm Plunder in Ukraine

Courtesy of The Financial Times, a report on widescale frain seizures and destruction of tools and buildings in Ukraine: Things have gone from bad to worse on Oleg’s farm in Kherson in southern Ukraine since Russia’s invasion 10 weeks ago. Occupying forces took away some of his grain and stole all the machinery, including trucks, […]

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About This Blog And Its Author
Seeds Of A Revolution is committed to defining the disruptive geopolitics of the global Farms Race.  Due to the convergence of a growing world population, increased water scarcity, and a decrease in arable land & nutrient-rich soil, a spike of international investment interest in agricultural is inevitable and apt to bring a heretofore domestic industry into a truly global realm.  Whether this transition involves global land leases or acquisitions, the fundamental need for food & the protectionist feelings this need can give rise to is highly likely to cause such transactions to move quickly into the geopolitical realm.  It is this disruptive change, and the potential for a global farms race, that Seeds Of A Revolution tracks, analyzes, and forecasts.

Educated at Yale University (Bachelor of Arts - History) and Harvard (Master in Public Policy - International Development), Monty Simus has long held a keen interest in natural resource policy and the geopolitical implications of anticipated stresses in the areas of freshwater scarcity, biodiversity reserves & parks, and farm land.  Monty has lived, worked, and traveled in more than forty countries spanning Africa, China, western Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Southeast & Central Asia, and his personal interests comprise economic development, policy, investment, technology, natural resources, and the environment, with a particular focus on globalization’s impact upon these subject areas.  Monty writes about freshwater scarcity issues at www.waterpolitics.com and frontier investment markets at www.wildcatsandblacksheep.com.