Rising above price shocks

Calm is key: A black cat resting on a stool as a woman shops for provisions at a grocery store in Bangkok, Thailand. — AFP

The world’s food problem is already severe as prices jump and protectionism flares, but there’s a good chance governments can stop it from getting worse if they heed a lesson from the crisis in 2008: don’t panic.

With a gauge of global prices already at a record following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a spate of nations have moved to curb exports in crops from wheat and sugar to cooking oils, exacerbating security risks for the rest of the world.