Russia’s Withdrawal from Agreement Could Exacerbate Global Food Security Crisis, Says IMF

The International Monetary Fund warned on Wednesday that Russia’s withdrawal from an agreement allowing Ukrainian exports through the Black Sea would exacerbate the global food security crisis and herald higher food prices, especially for low-income countries.

A spokesman for the fund stated that the international financial institution will continue to closely monitor current developments in the region and their impact on global food security, according to Reuters.

“Stopping the initiative affects food supplies for countries that depend heavily on shipments from Ukraine, particularly in North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia,” the IMF said. “It weakens the prospects for food security and risks increasing global food price inflation, especially for low-income countries.”

Several members of the Group of Twenty this week condemned Russia’s move on Monday to withdraw from the agreement to export grain through the ports of the Black Sea – which was brokered by the United Nations – because of what Moscow described as a failure to meet its demands for the implementation of a parallel agreement that eases the rules imposed on its exports of foodstuffs and fertilizers.

The fund added that the grain agreement contributed to facilitating the export of food, grain and fertilizers from Ukraine to the rest of the world.

The IMF spokesman indicated that the agreement also helped relieve pressure on food prices in the world with the lifting of the export ban and an increase in food production more than expected in the main exporting countries.

The spokesman said that the agreement allowed Ukraine to export about 33 million tons of grain by sea, which revealed that this was an important factor for global food security.

According to figures reported by the Anadolu Agency, this amount of grain was shipped by more than a thousand ships through the corridor, since the first ship moved on August 1, 2022, until last Monday.

40% of the grain shipped through the corridor was transported to Europe, 30% to Asia, 13% to Turkey, 12% to Africa and 5% to the Middle East.

In July 2022, Turkey, the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul to resume grain shipments from Ukrainian ports, which were temporarily suspended after the start of the Russian war in February 2022, in order to address the global food crisis.

The agreement, which has been extended several times, most recently on May 18 for a period of 60 days, has allowed the shipment of tens of millions of grain and foodstuffs from Ukraine since last August, according to the United Nations.

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2023-07-19 20:47:09