Since the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian federation in February 2022, alot has been lost and one of the most hit sector globally remains agricultural sector.
The unfortunate incident has exacerbate food insecurity and worsen hunger especially conflict prone states in Nigeria.
To say the least, the current scarcity of wheat and other grains and the inability of many Nigerians to afford them has direct link with the shortfall in the supply of grains from Ukraine and Russia to complement the country’s demand gap of over, 1.7 million metric tonnes of wheat needed to produce bread and other confectioneries.
In May 2022, the World Food Programme (WFP) raised alarm of hunger and starvation in the North East Nigeria and other 19 countries globally as countries to be watched under 20 Hunger Hotspur and the prediction are happening with most Nigerians unable to buy food to feed their families due to high cost.
Even when the United Nations made a deal with Russia for shipment of humanitarian food assistance under the Black Sea Grain Initiative in August with 23,000 metric tonnes of wheat grain for WFP’s response in the Horn of Africa, Nigeria was not considered by the global body as beneficiary of that supply and thus making us stand at the mercy of ourselves.
According to WFP report, global food crisis fuelled by conflict, climate shocks and the COVID-19 pandemic is growing because of the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine driving rising prices of food, fuel and fertiliser.
The report noted that millions of people across the world are at risk of being driven into starvation unless action is taken now to respond together and at scale. This, it is seeking contributions to meet its annual operational requirements which is now at an all-time high of $22.2 billion.
In addition, as global food prices spiking, and supplies of wheat, oils and other items disrupted due to the Russia-Ukraine war, Nigeria faces a number of threats to its already precarious food security and since over 50 per cent of the foods consumed by Nigerian are imported food price inflation threatens to place many people in hunger and starvation.
According to business expert, Dr Cliff Ogbede without grain supplies from Ukrain, the cost of food will continue to increase rapidly in Nigeria which is already pushing the poorest in the country into starvation.
He said, “Since Russia launched its bloody invasion of Ukraine in February, innocent civilians have been massacred with many properties distroyed and the Russia actions have also plunged the world into an economic crisis and choked off global supplies of food and fertiliser, putting millions of people at risk of starvation.
The war in Ukraine affects Nigeria enormously and we need to care. Russia’s invasion sent shockwaves through the global economy. The deliberate blockading of Ukrainian ports and the shelling of Ukrainian farmland have choked off grain exports to the world. In Nigeria we imported 259,000 tonnes from Ukraine last year alone. Now, without these vital supplies, the cost of food has rocketed here and the poorest in our country are being pushed into starvation.
“It’s not just food. Putin’s energy blackmail, turning off the taps on oil and gas to Europe, has sent fuel costs soaring. As an energy exporter, this should have been good news for Nigeria, but because of the parlous state of our domestic oil sector, we remain a net importer of refined oil products and our economy has been hit hard,” he added.
