: Opinion: A new era of food diplomacy #IndiaNEWS #News By Sarah Schiffling, Nikolaos Valantasis Kanellos Twenty million tonnes of grain are currently stuck in Ukrainian silos, exacerbating the global

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Opinion: A new era of food diplomacy #IndiaNEWS #News
By Sarah Schiffling, Nikolaos Valantasis Kanellos
Twenty million tonnes of grain are currently stuck in Ukrainian silos, exacerbating the global food crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of the country. Aside from the need to get the grain onto world markets, freeing up storage space will be crucial to make room ahead of the country’s next harvest season.
Current negotiations between Russia and the Turkish government to ensure safe passage of the grain are focused on establishing an export corridor. The aim is to encourage Russia to lift its blockade of Ukraine’s ports, with the Turkish navy providing an escort for ships to transport this grain through the Black Sea.
Like Vaccine Diplomacy
As with vaccine diplomacy efforts seen during the Covid-19 pandemic, governments are now jostling to satisfy global demand with a limited amount of increasingly expensive food. But some countries are going a step further than ensuring food is available to their own citizens, hinting at a new era of food diplomacy being used to bolster both old and new alliances.
Food prices in May 2022 were down 0. 6% from April but still 22. 8% above the same month last year, according to the monthly food price index of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation. Recent research shows three quarters of people in the UK are worried about the cost of food.
The situation is even worse in many lower-income countries. The war in Ukraine is expected to increase existing food insecurity and drive hunger in some parts of the world to the highest levels this century.
Food supply chains have been severely disrupted by the war because both Russia and Ukraine are large suppliers of key agricultural products like wheat, barley and sunflower oil. It is also expected to have a lasting impact on global trade in food.
Moving food supplies out of Ukraine is not easy, however. Prior to the war, 90% of this cargo left Ukraine by sea, but the Russian occupation of Ukraine’s sea ports has blocked this export route. The EU has stepped up support for transport by road, rail, and river barge, but moving 20 million tonnes of grain would take 10,000 river barges or up to 1 million large trucks. Border crossings by road are slow and moving freight by train is complicated by different railway gauges in Ukraine’s neighbouring countries.
Solving Food Crisis
Even if issues around international agreements, availability and capacity of cargo ships and crew, and insurance issues are solved, a food crisis will not be completely avoided. The Ukrainian Grain Producers Association expects that the 2022 grain and oilseed harvest will be down by nearly 40% from 2021 levels. This, together with the potential impact of drought and high input prices on agricultural production in many countries, will have devastating consequences for the world’s food supply.

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