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In the 1930s, all the continents except for Europe were basically self-sufficient in food production. Drought in one region would therefore affect predominantly its own population. Following the Second World War, this situation changed dramatically, due to population growth among other factors, and countries on most continents experienced a reduction in per-capita food-grain production; they then turned to major exporting countries to provide for their shortfalls.
It was primarily the tremendous grain reserves accumulated by the United States and Canada in the mid-1950s and 1960s that supplied much of this grain. This storage buffered periods of local shortages throughout the world and provided a secure way of stabilizing international food prices. However, a fundamental change in governmental policy occurred in the early 1970s, and the U.S. and Canadian reserves were deliberately depleted. This is why, despite the seemingly constant availability of grain for export, the infrastructure for its production and storage is today precariously balanced and could be subject to breakdown in case of a major drought.
To fully appreciate the food insecurity facing humanity in the 21st century, it must be realized that some 106 nations, including Israel, are permanent food-grain importers; that is, they do not produce sufficient grain to feed their citizenry. All rely mostly on six grain-producing and -exporting countries — the United States, Canada, the European Union (France and Sweden), Australia and Argentina — which supply about 80% of world demand, of which the United States and Canada provide 60%. If major drought were to strike China and India, the most populous nations of the world (a total of 2.3 billion inhabitants), the grain-exporting countries would not be able to make up this loss, and the shortage would be felt all over the world. Prices would soar and only the most economically advanced nations would be able to survive.
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