Could the massive explosion in Lebanon cause a food crisis?

An image of the massive shockwave caused by the blast. Reuters.

The massive blast that rocked Beirut Lebanon may cause issues with food distribution for the country. Reuters. Lebanon's main grain silo was destroyed in the blast leaving the country with only a month's supply of grain. Lebanon's food minster said they have enough flour to get by, but that they need enough storage to have a three months supply of food. Lebanon was already having food issues before the crisis, caused by economic instability. The problem will likely become worse due to the massive amount of damage the blast has made. Food may have to come into Tripoli, which is a much smaller port. 

The blast has killed at least 100 people and has wounded at least 4000 more. Reuters. The blast sent up a huge mushroom cloud and was felt 100 miles away in Cyprus. The cause of the blast was 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate which was improperly stored. The preliminary investigation blames inaction and negligence for the blast while the fire that started the blast may have been due to welding. 

My Comment:

I'm a little late on this story so I figured I'd take a different approach. By now everyone has seen the video from the blast so there is little reason to repost it. Instead I wanted to focus on what the repercussions of this blast will be. 

It does seem like Beirut was totally devastated by this explosion. It was an extremely powerful blast from the video I have seen, with the people recording it often blown off their feet. The entire port area looks to have been destroyed and I wouldn't be surprised if the final death count is in the hundreds. 

The devastation goes beyond the lives lost and the damage done. This will be crippling to Lebanon's economy. They won't be able to import or export anything from Beirut for some time. They have other ports, like Tripoli, but they probably won't be able to keep up with the demand. Without a port it will be very hard to bring food in and bring products out of the country. 

This will of course be damaging to the economy. From what I understand Lebanon was already in a financial crisis, most likely due to the Coronavirus. This will make this much worse as it will drive tourists away and prevent trade from happening. 

The food issue is a dire one. I tend to think that the food minster may be downplaying how dangerous things actually are. They may have enough food in the short term but in the long term they are going to have massive problems getting food into the city and country. And that small supply of food that wasn't destroyed in this disaster might run out fairly quickly.

Complicating things is that there are a lot of other countries in a food crisis as well. China is dealing with a massive three pronged disaster where they are dealing with flooding, African Swine Fever and a locust swarm. Those locusts are also attacking Africa so there is a lot of compitition for food aid. Things could get bad if people don't help, though there might not be as much help to give as there would have been in normal years. 

Another problem is storage. Though I am sure some storage is available, much of Beirut's storage supply was destroyed or damaged in this blast. Without storage space they will be unable to use much of the grain and food they are given. And it will take time to build or free up more storage space. 

The good news is that Lebanon will likely get a lot of help. In this kind of disaster people tend to lend a helping hand and even the governments of the Middle East will be willing to help. How much help may be limited as they are dealing with their own crisis due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Hopefully Lebanon gets the help they need so they can recover from this disaster.