By: Roy Wang

As a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine, global food supply and security has taken a hit. Since the beginning of the conflict, lack of supply has caused food prices to rise significantly. The two belligerents of the conflict, Russia and Ukraine, made up a combined quarter of global wheat exports in 2019. Additionally, those two countries also made up a staggering 40% of Africa’s wheat supply, and now many African nations suffer from wheat shortages.

Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister, recently dismissed the claims that worldwide food shortages were caused by Russia. Speaking to ambassadors of the Arab League in Cairo, Lavrov said that Western nations were distorting the truth about the impact of sanctions on global food security, claiming that the ongoing food crisis was being “blamed bluntly [and] unconditionally on Russia.”

In an article published by local newspapers leading up to a short tour he would take in Africa, Lavrov claimed that the real causes of the food crises in the Arabian and African world are the Western sanctions imposed on Russia. He says the sanctions compounded on the “negative tendencies” in the international food market stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic according to the BBC.

Earlier, Mr. Lavrov held talks with the Egyptian foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry. Egypt has significant relationships with Russia, which has supplied large amounts of food, weapons, and tourists to the North African nation. Egypt is also normally a massive consumer of Ukrainian wheat. It imported 3.62 million tons of Ukrainian wheat in 2019, which, according to the BBC was more than any other country.

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-62284377

https://ugetube.com/watch/lavrov-arab-league-cairo-egypt-july-24-2022_LGqVuOP8nJkxm2M.html