I purchase about 4 x 500g organic peanut butter (palm oil free, as it is toxic to dogs) a month. Last year, for a single jar of 500g, it was going up from £5 to £6 and this year it has crept up to nearly £9 by September.
We can’t grow peanuts in this country, but they are a popular food. They are imported from across the world and I looked up details using this link:
https://www.worldstopexports.com/top-peanuts-exports-imports-by-country-plus-average-prices
In 2023, exports of peanuts (also called groundnuts) were worth a total US$4.4 billion.
That was an increase since 2019 of 47.3%.
Year over year, overall export revenues for the popular snacking nut grew via a 12.2% advance compared to $3.91 billion during 2022.
Covid hit many economies very hard between 2020 and 2023.
Below are the top 20 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of peanuts during 2023, regardless of whether the shipped peanuts were in-shell or shelled.
- India: US$872.6 million (19.9% of total exported peanuts)
- United States: $629.1 million (14.3%)
- Brazil: $443.7 million (10.1%)
- Sudan: $435.6 million (9.9%)
- Netherlands: $230.8 million (5.3%)
- Senegal: $197.8 million (4.5%)
- mainland China: $185.4 million (4.2%)
- Nicaragua: $127.6 million (2.9%)
- Egypt: $97.1 million (2.2%)
- Mozambique: $69.1 million (1.6%)
- Malawi: $54 million (1.2%)
- Tanzania: $41 million (0.9%)
- Germany: $29.7 million (0.7%)
- Israel: $19.9 million (0.5%)
- Madagascar: $19.2 million (0.4%)
- Belgium: $16.9 million (0.4%)
- Bolivia: $14.6 million (0.3%)
- South Africa: $13.6 million (0.3%)
- Myanmar: $11.38 million (0.3%)
- Türkiye: $8.99 million (0.2%)
Then we see the highest importers:
Below are the 20 best buying markets as measured by the highest dollar value worth of peanuts imported during 2023, for any peanuts regardless of whether shelled or not.
- mainland China: US$758.5 million (16.7% of total imported peanuts)
- Netherlands: $571.2 million (12.6%)
- Indonesia: $374.2 million (8.2%)
- Vietnam: $269.6 million (5.9%)
- Germany: $233.4 million (5.1%)
- Mexico: $173.9 million (3.8%)
- Russia: $173.6 million (3.8%)
- United Kingdom: $162.3 million (3.6%)
- Canada: $156.5 million (3.4%)
- Algeria: $132.7 million (2.9%)
- Poland: $127.2 million (2.8%)
- Spain: $99.7 million (2.2%)
- Italy: $85.8 million (1.9%)
- France: $75.4 million (1.7%)
- Thailand: $60.2 million (1.3%)
- Türkiye: $53.5 million (1.2%)
- Philippines: $52.9 million (1.2%)
- United Arab Emirates: $49.6 million (1.1%)
- Malaysia: $47.2 million (1%)
- Ukraine: $38.4 million (0.8%)
The article explains:
By value, the listed 20 countries shipped 80.1% of globally exported peanuts in 2023.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing peanuts exporters since 2022 were: Tanzania (up 86.7%), Madagascar (up 63.1%), Mozambique (up 62.7%) and Senegal (up 45.6%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported peanuts sales were: Türkiye (down -65.6% from 2022), Myanmar (down -49.8%), Malawi (down -36.2%), Bolivia (down -12.5%) and South Africa (down -0.1%)
Interestingly note of exporters in the top 20 was no.16. Türkiye: $53.5 million (1.2%) yet posted a decline Türkiye (down -65.6% from 2022). That made me wonder about why Turkey should become a big importer rather than be in the top 20 exporters, see below:
Among the top importers, the fastest-growing peanuts importers since 2022 were: Algeria (up 160.7%), Türkiye (up 142.0%), Vietnam (up 80%) and Mexico (up 54.8%).
I began to wonder about the economy of a country as to its choices if they are hit by climate change which can destroy crops, or disasters such as the Gaziantep centred earthquake in Turkey when the Turkish economy was struggling for a variety of reasons already. We know global warming of the planet must be reducing food security in many areas of the world.
Maybe we should also add in the impact of terrible wars as in the Middle East, Ukraine, Myanmar, not forgetting Sudan, one of the exporters of peanuts, where a famine looms that could be deadlier than Ethiopia’s in the 1980s: some estimate that 2.5m civilians could die by the end of the year.
When we notice big leaps in prices of staple foods, perhaps we should all think a bit more about the fragility of the agricultural sector and the crisis of wildfires, drought, floods, hurricanes and so on, and restricted food transportation due to wars on land and sea.
Back in 2021 this was a prediction from NASA:
Watching the incredibly extreme heat of America this year, and in India, the two main exporters of peanuts have been hit hard. Growing peanuts requires reliable weather, the right amount of sun, but not extreme and the right amount of rain, but not too much. There are numerous considerations in advance of planting each year:
And India is suffering an increase in extreme weather:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03910-w
So I realise now that the price increases are likely due to shortages as my regular supplier is also out of stock, and I can’t remember that ever happening.
But for those people who feel abandoned in their own country, starving and searching to find a place of safety and food security, it is up to us all to help our fellow human beings. See this World Food Programme short explanation, made just under a year ago, before Gazans were placed in such cruel circumstances:
https://youtu.be/HeVhr9V28jA?si=If10btnMpjacAGGn
And if, after understanding more about the vital need for us all to help those without regular food and water due to no fault of their own, you can donate here:
https://www.wfp.org/support-us
WPF assert the following after you donate:
Did you know there’s enough food in our world to feed everyone? Yet 783 million people go to bed hungry every night.
We believe no mother or father should struggle to feed their child.
Established in 1961, we are the world’s largest humanitarian organization – and it’s generous people like you that help us save and change lives in over 120 countries around the world.
Now let’s end hunger for good.
borderslynn 