As the Ukraine war enters its fourth month, the world has about 10 weeks of wheat reserves in storage. These are estimates made by an expert on food supply at the UN. However, other factors, such as drought in the main production areas, also contribute to this situation.
Sara Menker, CEO of the agricultural analysis firm Gro Intelligence, testified before the UN Security Council. The war between Russia and Ukraine “added fuel to the long burning fire”, not the cause of the food security crisis.
Ukraine is accepted. the “barn” of the world and Russia and Ukraine together account for about a third of world wheat exports.
According to the British newspaper The Telegraph, the UN has already been warned that world wheat stocks have fallen to its level. lowest level since 2008 because the supply of this grain was affected by a “once in a generation” event.
This came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Russia of using food as a weapon. Addressing the UN Security Council, Blinken said: Russia was holding food “hostage” not only to Ukrainians, but to millions of people around the world.
“The Russian government seems to think that using food as a weapon will help achieve what the invasion failed to achieve: to break the spirit of the Ukrainian people,” Blinken said.
Menker says worldwide drought contributes to the reduction of wheat resources. Menker pointed out that the global food supply is also affected by climate change and fertilizer shortages.
“Right now We have only 10 weeks of global consumption in stocks around the world. Current conditions are worse than those experienced in 2007 and 2008“, he explained.
Menker stated that wheat stocks are at 33% of annual consumption, according to the estimates of official government agencies around the world, but he added that models created by Gro Intelligence show that the figure may actually be closer. 20% is a level not seen since 2007 and 2008. .
“It’s important to note that the lowest grain stocks the world has ever seen are happening right now, while access to fertilizers is very limited,” he says. “TO The drought in wheat-producing regions around the world is the most extreme in more than 20 years.“.
But that’s not all, as a similar concern is putting pressure on maize and other grain stocks.
Reference article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/05/20/world-has-just-ten-weeks-worth-wheat-left-ukraine-war/
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Source: Informacion
