yolowire.com - The Norwegian government has announced that is stockpiling Grain, saying that ongoing war in Europe and climate change have made the move necessary.
Specifically, Norway plans to store 30,000 tons of grain, particularly wheat, at facilities scattered across the Scandinavian country.
In a statement, Norway’s ministry for agriculture and food said: “the building up of a contingency stock of food grains is about being prepared for the unthinkable.”
Norway said it plans to continue stockpiling grain through 2029 with a goal of having 82,500 tons of grain in storage by the end of the decade, enough to feed the country of 5.6 million people for three months.
Norway last stored grain in the 1950s but closed its storage sites in 2003 after deciding they were no longer required.
Now, Norway is reviving its grain storage program following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and as climate change disrupts grain production around the world.
The oil-rich northern nation also houses the GlobalSeedVault in its Svalbard region located about 800 miles from the North Pole.
Since 2008, agricultural organizations and governments around the world have deposited nearly one million samples of grain seeds in the Norwegian vault in case of human-caused or natural disasters.
Commodities analysts have warned that the stockpiling of grains such as wheat by governments could exacerbate supply shortages and lead to higher prices.