United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, warned that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine could stoke a global food crisis hitting the developing countries the hardest.
IANS reported citing Xinhua news agency that while speaking at a press conference in Stockholm after the meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson where he discussed the security situation in Europe, recovery from the pandemic and the green transition he said, the Russia-Ukraine conflict is creating suffering and devastation, and “must end now.”
He also called for immediate action to address the potential for a food crisis as a result of the conflict, which would disproportionately affect developing countries.
Guterres cautioned that the scenario is causing a “three-dimensional global food, energy, and finance catastrophe” that is harming “the most vulnerable populations, countries, and economies.”
Many developing countries’ economies are in danger of being destroyed by a “perfect storm,” he continued.
According to Guterres, the food crisis will not be successfully resolved until Russia’s manure and food production, as well as Ukraine’s food production, can re-enter world markets.
Russia and Ukraine are the world’s largest and fifth-largest wheat exporters, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). They supply 19% of the world’s barley, 14% of wheat, and 4% of maize, accounting for more than one-third of worldwide cereal exports.
The turmoil in Ukraine, regarded as Europe’s breadbasket, has resulted in unharvested wheat planted months earlier, as well as unfertilized maize and sunflowers seeded when the violence erupted.
Ukraine’s grain production is expected to drop by more than half this season, according to estimates.
Furthermore, Russia is the world’s biggest producer of fertilisers, accounting for 13% of worldwide output.
Global fertiliser prices have risen as a result of restrictions on Russian fertiliser exports imposed by US sanctions.
Farmers in Brazil, the United States, and other major agricultural countries have been obliged to cut their fertiliser use, potentially affecting future crops.
(Inputs from IANS)