Russia’s Action On Grain Initiative, A Blow To Global Food Security

Russia left the Black Sea Grain Initiative on Monday, July, 17, in a blow to global food security concerns amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The agreement, which was brokered in July by the United Nations and Turkey, was established to help alleviate global food supply concerns by ensuring both Ukraine and Russia could safely ship grain through the Black Sea; more than a quarter of the world’s wheat comes from these two nations.

According to official data (https://www.un.org/en/black-sea-grain-initiative/data), in the period from August 1, 2022 to mid-June 2023:

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the total volume of grain and food products exported under the Agreement was 31,902,478 metric tons;

more than 2.2 million metric tons of food was exported directly to countries most vulnerable to severe hunger, such as Kenya, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Yemen, Ethiopia, and Somalia;

more than 1.3 million metric tons of wheat were shipped from Ukraine to low- and lower-middle-income countries, equivalent to nearly 3 billion loaves of bread.

Also on July 17 of this year the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation said that it would withdraw the guarantees of shipping safety under the Agreement until the Russian part of the grain agreement is fulfilled.

“Russia continuing to play victim in a crisis of its own creation”, Caitlin Welsh, the director of global food security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told FP’s Christina Lu.

“Moscow’s claim that it’s suffering under this initiative is just absurd”

It is expected that after the deal cancel, the Black Sea’s northwestern region will be declared a temporary danger to shipping by the Kremlin.

Insurers are already discussing removing contracts that cover ships willing to sail to Ukraine, and food inflation rates are expected to rise.

“Rations are being cut to children every day now across the world,” Jan Egeland, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Reuters. “It is utterly dramatic, and this agreement was one of the few glimmers of hope in this age of biblical starvation.”

The termination of the Agreement took place against the background of the Russia-Africa summit scheduled for July 27-28, 2023 (St. Petersburg). Within the framework of the summit, in particular, it is planned to discuss with African countries the issue of developing cooperation in the agricultural sector, in particular by ensuring food security of African countries and eliminating hunger.

A few days before the “Russia-Africa” summit, canceling the grain agreement, which ensured the delivery of 60% of the total volume of agricultural products to African countries, is not even a shot in the foot, but in the head, which Putin made himself.

The leaders of African countries can cancel their visits to St. Petersburg for this summit. This would be an adequate step in response to the actions of the Russian Federation.