AlertNet: The year's end is usually a good time for wholesale rice suppliers in Sri Lanka. Customers are busy stocking up, particularly in wealthier urban areas like the capital, Colombo.
But for two years running now, some suppliers have struggled to keep enough rice on hand as the year draws to a close. Changing weather patterns -- including droughts and flooding, and at times both in one year -- mean supplies are increasingly uncertain.
"The weather has been so fickle that paddy harvests keep going...