Russia Africa SummitThe world is headed for a major food crisis with Russia refusing to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The Russian stand reflects its growing desperation owing to its failure to win war with Ukraine
The world is headed for a major food crisis as Moscow has refused to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative, agreed to by the UN, Turkey and Russia in July 2022 following the Russia-Ukraine full-scale war that began on February 24 last year. African countries, in particular, are more perturbed than anyone else as the development may not only lead to an acute shortage of wheat and other food grains in the black continent but also make these commodities too costly to afford for the extremely poor people living in that part of the globe.
Therefore, some time back, African leaders came out with a proposal for ending the war that actually began in 2014, and averting the dangerous disruption of wheat export from Ukraine to different parts of the world.
Wheat supplies from Ukraine, one of the top 10 wheat producers of the world, serve as the lifeline for 79 countries, according to the International Rescue Committee. Experts believe that these countries would find it difficult to cope with the problems that might arise in
the absence of Ukrainian wheat supplies.
The African proposal came during a two-day Africa-Russia summit in the last week of July. But Russian President Vladimir Putin was adamant. Instead of making any commitment on extending the UN-brokered Black Sea Food Initiative, he promised to provide free wheat supply to the most needy countries of Africa. To assuage the feelings of the African
leaders, he assured them to “examine” their proposals, but with the assertion that ships passing through the Black Sea would henceforth be bombed for sure.
The Russian stand is that loaded ships entering the Black Sea would now be treated as if these were carrying weapons for Ukraine.
But very few countries have taken President Putin’s otherwise high-sounding assurance very seriously: “Our country will continue supporting needy states and regions, in particular, with its humanitarian deliveries. We seek to actively participate in building a fairer system of distribution of resources. We are making maximum efforts to avert a global food crisis.”
Some of the African leaders at the St Petersburg conference told Putin clearly that they were there not to beg for anything. They were primarily interested in an end to the war, which would ultimately lead to the normalisation of food grain supplies through the Black Sea.
