Vietnam’s rice crisis

Here at this supermarket in Hanoi, the rice shelves are empty because all products have been purchased. The price of rice has tripled recently to a steep price where the average income is about $50 a month. This market has hardly any customers these days. This woman says this is bad for people with no income. In fact it’s people like here, not farmers, who are profiting from high prices of rice. This UN expert says rice growers are being hurt by the high price of energy. He also says development, causing houses to go up where fields of rice are normally grown, are also hurting the situation. Reports on state run TV deal with these issues, and the public frustration. This Vietnamese official stressed that rice supplies were adequate and the government has announced it will cut rice exports by 20% this year to help with that; Vietnam is the world’s second largest rice exporter. Rice exports are not on the mind of Vietnamese consumers.