Brussels, 25 March 2022 – War in Ukraine e food crisis. The EU Council gave the ok to a piano to cope with the food shortage caused by the war in Ukraine, a major exporter of grain. Inspired by the Covax international program for the distribution of anti-Covid vaccines, this program, called “Farm”, aims in particular to increase transparency on world stocks, to guarantee supplies to the countries most at risk and to encourage production in fragile regions, we read in the conclusions of the summit of European leaders.
Biden and Macron’s alarm
“Lfood emergency it will be real, not only Russia pays the price of sanctions but also our European allies “, it was there‘alarm of the president of the United States Joe Biden due to the very high risk of famine in some countries, in North Africa and the Middle East for example. While Emmanuel Macron, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, proposed to allies and partners a emergency plan for world food security.
Urgent EU plan
“We will give € 2.5 billion until 2024 to help the areas most affected by food safetyAdded von der Leyen. “We have presented measures to support agriculture and food security in Ukraine because Putin’s war begins to have a strong impact on security
food in Ukraine and around the world ”, said the president, reiterating a concept already expressed in recent days. “A third of wheat exports come from Ukraine and Russia, so we must avoid a world crisis and we must act now,” she added.
Food crisis, alarm is growing. Biden: “The food shortage will be a real emergency”
The requests
But in these hours on the food safety critical voices are also raised. “While the European Commission continues to take one step forward and one backward on the increase of agri-food production in the countries of the European Union, despite the clear invitation of the heads of state and government to increase the continent’s self-sufficiency, a situation of tension in North Africa and the Middle East, ”he says Luigi Scordamagliamanaging director of Italy supply chain. And he underlines how i emerging countries those most dependent on imports of cereals and basic food items from Russia and Ukraine. Let’s talk about countries likeEritrea which depend for the 100% from wheat produced in both countries, or of the Somalia whose dependency ratio exceeds 90%, or like Egypt which depends for 80% on the production of these areas.
Again: the Lebanonfor example, it recently confirmed that it has a stock of cereals for no more than two weeks. According to Scordamaglia, “the situation must be handled immediately”.
Ukrainian war and the specter of hunger. Because it also affects us
The FAO alarm
“It is unclear whether Ukraine will be able to collect the existing productions, plant new ones or support livestock production as the conflict evolves. As the insecurity persists and the supply chains both local and national are interrupted, an increase in hunger and malnutrition levels is likely ”. Thus the FAO in a note on the impact of the war on food security in Ukraine. “Since food safety in this scenario is related toaccess to food and not the availability of food – writes the FAO – agricultural production must be able to resume immediately and safely to avoid a further deterioration of food security in Ukraine in the coming months ”.