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· While food grain importing countries in Africa would be severely affected during the ongoing Russia -Ukraine conflict, countries like South Africa, Namibia etc producing wheat stand to gain due to higher international prices created by shortage
Poorer countries in northern Africa, Asia and the Middle East that depend heavily on wheat imports risk suffering significant food insecurity due to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The UN food agency -Food and Agricultural Organization- has warned of the consequences of the ongoing Russian-Ukraine conflict on the food front of the poorer countries across the globe particularly in Africa. The apprehension is borne out of the fact that both countries at war supply one-third of the total grain exports of the world. The UN says that the war could seriously escalate the international food and input prices, which are already high and vulnerable.
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The UN agency further said that there was a possibility that the Ukraine farmers would not be able to harvest wheat. The standing crop will be ready for harvest in June. Because of the massive movement of the people from the war zone, there was a big question mark on the harvest since accessing agricultural fields would be difficult for farmers. In case, if they could do so, Ukraine’s ports on the Black Sea are shuttered and export may not be possible. On the top of it, Ukraine has banned the export of wheat, oats, millet, buckwheat and some other food products to prevent a domestic crisis and to make them available to its own citizens. However, the ban is not applicable to supply of corn and sunflower oil. Russia and Ukraine account for more than 50% of world’s sunflower oil exports.
Among the major importers of wheat from Russia and Ukraine include Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Lebanon. However, some countries in Africa stand to benefit from the food grain shortage, which produces wheat. These countries are: South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe since they have trade stocks. The UN agency further said that the global number of undernourished people could increase by 8 to 13 million” in 2022-2023, particularly in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa.
