Ecuador's government has announced a nine-hour power outage in 12 of the country's 24 provinces due to a record drought and a shortage of water at local hydroelectric plants.
Points of attention
- The record drought in Ecuador has resulted in massive power outages in 12 provinces, highlighting the impact of water shortages on hydroelectric plants.
- Drought conditions in Brazil and Vietnam have disrupted coffee production, leading to a significant rise in coffee prices globally.
- Ukraine's wheat production has been affected by the severe drought, with a reduction in sown areas due to unfavorable conditions for sowing winter crops.
- The global coffee and grain production sectors are facing challenges due to droughts, potentially resulting in higher commodity prices worldwide.
- The environmental crisis in Ecuador, coupled with the agricultural challenges in Brazil, Vietnam, and Ukraine, underlines the far-reaching consequences of record droughts on multiple economic sectors.
What is known about the record drought and large-scale power outages in Ecuador
It said the decision was taken in addition to the government's plans for eight-hour overnight blackouts across the country from Monday to Thursday.
Ecuador is in the grip of the country's worst drought in 61 years. The energy crisis is exacerbated by insufficient maintenance of existing dams.
Ecuador's environment minister said 19 provinces in the country are experiencing water shortages, fires and food shortages.
At the same time, Brazil is suffering from a record drought in the world's largest coffee producer. This provokes a sharp rise in coffee prices around the world.
It is noted that such a severe drought has not been recorded in Brazil in the last 70 years.
According to the report of the Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics at the School of Agribusiness of the University of São Paulo, the coffee bean harvesting season ends in September, which has not undergone any changes compared to last year.
However, due to the drought, farmers are unable to start preparations for the 2025-26 season.
The second largest producer of coffee in the world is Vietnam, which is also experiencing severe drought and high temperatures that are affecting the harvest.
Due to the shortage of offers from producers from both countries, coffee prices in the world began to rise.
What is known about the problems caused by the drought in Ukraine
Severe drought and drying of the soil in the south of Ukraine became a hindrance to the sowing of winter grain crops.
It is noted that as a result of the loss of part of the cultivated areas due to the criminal invasion of the occupation army of the Russian Federation, the production of wheat in Ukraine has decreased by about a third compared to the pre-war level.
At the same time, during the first two weeks of September, the temperature in Ukraine remains at a level higher than the norm, which further worsens the conditions for sowing winter crops.
Currently, the area of sown fields is almost half less than in the same period last year.
