![]() The UN FAO said that “high world fertilizer prices are likely to extend into 2023, with negative repercussions for global agricultural output and food insecurity.” Poorer countries will feel the strain of these increased agricultural import costs most severely, with lower application of fertilizer taking place, further lowering productivity and total output of foodstuffs. However, while world wheat production is forecast to reach a record 784 million tons over the coming year, bolstered mainly by substantial harvest recoveries in Canada and Russia, pushing global wheat inventories to record levels, these accumulations are expected mainly in China and Russia, while stocks are predicted to decline by 8 percent in the rest of world. World wheat trade is expected to fall 1 percent year-on-year due to a lack of exports from the region. ![]() The war in Ukraine has caused significant disruptions to Black Sea grain and fertilizers, with cultivation and exports severely damaged, a situation made worse by the strain on shipping in the region. Prior to the war, Russia and Ukraine accounted for 30 percent of the world wheat trade and 78 percent of sunflower oil exports. These countries have extremely high import dependencies and have been further weakened by depreciating currencies against the dollar. The war in Ukraine has hit poorer countries in the Middle East and North Africa the hardest. This would represent a hike of 48 percent in costs compared to 2021, with 86 percent of this due to higher energy and fertilizer prices. The world agricultural input import bill is forecast to reach a new high of $424 billion in 2022. “Worryingly, many economically vulnerable countries are paying more while receiving less food,” the FAO states in the report.Īlthough not specifically mentioned in the UN report, the criminal response of governments to the COVID-19 pandemic-fueling inflation, the food supply chain and currency crises-has been a major factor in exacerbating the food crisis and its attendant poverty and hunger. The report also cites climate variability and geopolitical tensions as the biggest factors contributing to food-security concerns. This new forecast, marking an all-time high, is due to the depreciating values of currencies against the US dollar, the main currency of exchange on international markets, as well as the UN-NATO proxy war in Ukraine. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Food Outlook report released Friday estimates that the global food import bill, the price countries spend on foodstuffs, including cereals, oil crops, sugar, meat, dairy and fish, will rise to an all-time high of $1.94 trillion in 2022, up 10 percent from last year. ![]() ![]() Women wait in line for food donated by the COVID Without Hunger organization in the Jardim Gramacho slum of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, May 22, 2021. ![]()
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