Tutoring English, vocabulary is a perennial theme. The tutor mentions paucity.

Paucity refers to a situation in which the quantity or number of an item is small, likely smaller than expected.

Due to the paucity of cream in the fridge, we made tomato sauce [for the pasta] rather than cream sauce.

HTH:)

Source:

Merriam-Webster. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Springfield: Merriam-Webster, 2004.

Gilmour, Laura (ed). Collins Essential Canadian English Dictionary and Thesaurus. Glasgow: HarperCollins, 2006.

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.