African countries risk facing a shortage of wheat and a number of food products in the next few weeks because of the conflict in Ukraine, Dirk Kotze of the University of South Africa, the largest university in South Africa and the African continent, warned.
"Numerous countries in Africa are importing wheat and other grains from Russia and Ukraine," local radio station SABC quoted him as saying on Monday. - "We expect shortages of wheat, wheat flour and wheat products. Add to that the continuing rise in oil prices, which is driving up inflation."
Russia is the largest exporter of wheat in the world and Ukraine holds the fifth position in this market, the radio station notes. In recent years, they jointly accounted for 19% of world supplies of barley, 14% of wheat and 4% of corn. As a result, Russia and Ukraine account for more than one-third of the world exports of grains. Their share in world exports of sunflower oil reaches 52%. Russia is also the world's largest producer and exporter of agricultural fertilizers.
Authorities in many African countries that import wheat from Russia and Ukraine have already said that if Western sanctions against Russia persist, they expect a surge in the price of wheat and wheat products. As a consequence, the poorest segments of the population, who spend a large part of their income on food, will suffer. "The result will be increased hunger in Africa," said Rebeca Greenspan, secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Benin (100% of Russian wheat imports from Russia), Sudan (up to 70%), Rwanda, Tanzania, Madagascar and Republic of Congo (up to 65% each) and Egypt, Burkina Faso and Burundi (about 60%) are more dependent on imports of Russian wheat than other African countries. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Namibia, Togo and Senegal import every second ton of wheat from Russia. South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, Malawi Cape Verde and Somalia are big buyers of Russian wheat.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS