A tale of failure in two stories. First, from Alex at Marginal Revolution:
Organic Disaster
Sri Lanka’s President abruptly banned chemical fertilizers earlier this year in a bid to become 100% organic. The ban has resulted in reduced production and soaring prices that, together with declining tourism and the pandemic, have created an economic crisis.
According to major Sri Lankan tea conglomerate Herman Gunaratne, one of 46 experts picked by President Rajapaksa to spearhead the organic shift, the move’s consequences for the country are unimaginable.
“The ban has drawn the tea industry into complete disarray… If we go completely organic, we will lose 50 per cent of the crop, (but) we are not going to get 50 per cent higher prices,” he reportedly said.
…Former central bank deputy governor W.A. Wijewardena reportedly termed the organic plan as a “dream with unimaginable social, political and economic costs”. He said Sri Lanka’s food security had been “compromised” and without foreign currency, it’s “worsening day by day”.
And what did they do? They did what any liberal utopia does, they doubled down:
The government has responded to the soaring prices not by reversing its decree but in the usual way by imposing price controls, attacking “hoarders” and seizing stocks of agricultural commodities like sugar.
Let me know when you find an instance where price controls have worked... I'll wait...
Fast forward to now - from Aljazeera:
Sri Lanka to pay $200m compensation for failed organic farm drive
Sri Lanka has announced compensation for more than a million rice farmers whose crops failed under a botched scheme to establish the world’s first 100-percent organic farming nation.
The island country is currently reeling from a severe economic crisis that has triggered food shortages and rolling blackouts as the COVID pandemic sent the tourism-dependent economy into a tailspin.
The article goes on to outline some of the cascading tailspin that this one bonehead idea caused:
Rajapaksa told a United Nations food summit last year that the policy was aimed at ensuring “greater food security and nutrition” and encouraged other nations to follow Sri Lanka’s example.
Instead, the lack of imported farm chemicals compounded the island’s economic crisis, with food shortages forcing shops to ration sugar, lentils and other essentials.
The country is short of fuel for the transport sector and power utilities unable to pay for oil have rationed electricity. Cooking gas is also in short supply, forcing households to use firewood to prepare meals.
Despite the end of the chemical ban, importers say they have been unable to replenish stocks because commercial banks lack foreign exchange to pay for new supplies.
Food inflation in Sri Lanka hit a record 21.5 percent last month with vegetables and other staples still in short supply in the wake of the organic drive.
Everything is interlinked - fsck with one thing and the ripples have the potential to take down the whole system. Actions have consequences - something most six year olds learn but something that these liberal elitists fail to grasp.
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