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Speaking during a meeting of business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Beasley said the Russian blockade of Ukraine’s ports on the Black Sea threatens the food supply of some 400 million people.
He warned that the matter was exacerbated by drought, high fuel prices and a shortage of fertilizers.
He added that increases in the cost of wheat imports prompted the African Development Bank to announce a $5 billion fund to support food production across the continent.
Before the Russian invasion, Ukraine exported huge quantities of sunflower oil and grains, such as corn and wheat.
Russia and Ukraine produce 30 percent of the world’s wheat supply. Before the war, Ukraine was seen as the breadbasket of the world, exporting 4.5 million tons of agricultural products per month through its ports.
The United Nations says about 20 million tons of grain are currently stuck in Ukraine since the previous harvest, and if allowed to leave could ease pressure on global markets.
picture released, Getty Images
In a speech to the forum, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia should be punished for its invasion of his country with the aim of discouraging any future international aggression.
Zelensky added that all kinds of trade with Russia should be ended and that frozen Russian funds should be used to rebuild war-damaged Ukrainian cities.
He noted that if the aggressor countries lose everything due to sanctions and other measures, they also lose motivation to start wars.
Millions of tons of grain are now filled to the pits and ports across Ukraine with no place to dispose of it as the country slowly chokes due to the blockade.
In temperate southern Ukraine, the summer harvest begins in the coming weeks but few people know where to store this season’s crop, raising fears that large portions of grain and other food products will be left to rot.
The war and the continuous siege led to a halt in trade to a large extent, while it was not possible to bypass major logistical and financial obstacles in front of alternative routes through trains or trucks to transport such a quantity of crops to global markets.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on the issue last week that the war “threatens to push tens of millions of people to the brink of food insecurity”.
He warned that what might follow would take the form of “malnutrition, mass hunger and famine in a crisis that could last for years.”
