The grain agreement in the Black Sea ended on July 17, 2023, informed the Kremlin through the voice of its spokesman, Dmitry Peskov. A situation that will have an impact on international trade, particularly that of cereals, especially wheat.
Russia, the Kremlin says, will be ready to return when its conditions are met. Indeed, this agreement, concluded in July 2022 by Russia and Ukraine after mediation by the UN and Turkey, is intended to avoid a world food crisis by allowing the export of Ukrainian cereals via the Black Sea in complete safety. despite the conflict in Ukraine.
The suspension of this agreement, according to experts, risks plunging the world back into a crisis of food insecurity. And Africa is not spared. Some countries on the continent are very dependent on the wheat that is exported from Ukraine thanks to this grain agreement. We can cite, among others, Madagascar and the DRC which are 100% dependent on these wheat exports. Mauritania imports 18% of its wheat from Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine together account for almost 30% of the world‘s wheat supply. In 2020, Togo bought nearly $12 million worth of wheat and meslin from the Russian Federation, making it its main supplier this year, according to World Trade Organization (WTO) data, based on statistics from the General Directorate of Statistics and National Accounts (DGSCN).
Atha Assan