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By SIFISO NHLABATSI | 2022-10-05
Minister of Agriculture Jabulani Mabuza has warned of a further food price hike as a result of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
This was during a multi stakeholder meeting to dialogue on mitigating the impact of the Ukraine-Russia conflict on fertiliser access for vulnerable smallholder farmers in Africa. The minister said this had a serious bearing on food security globally.
The dialogue was hosted by the Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Southern African Development Community (SADC), The African Development Bank (AfDB) Southern Africa and the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa.
The minister said the dialogue came at an opportune time for Eswatini, just before the farming season.
Speaking on findings of the situations which were presented during the dialogue, the minister said the studies indicate a dire situation regarding the affordability and availability of fertilisers on the global market.
He said both Ukraine and the Russian Federation are important producers of agricultural commodities in the world as they are also net exporters of agricultural products and are leading suppliers of foodstuff and fertilisers to global markets, and the uncertainty surrounding the conflict prompted a significant further price increase in global markets, particularly those of wheat, maize and oilseeds.
He disclosed that many of these countries were already struggling with the negative effects of high international food and fertiliser prices prior to the war. He said although Africa only accounts for three to four per cent of global fertiliser consumption, many sub-Saharan countries are also heavily reliant on supplies from the Russian federation.
“With prices of fertilisers and other energy-intensive products rising because of the war, overall input prices are expected to rise considerably.
The higher prices of these inputs will translate into higher production costs and eventually into higher food prices,” Mabuza stated. He said they could also lead to lower use of inputs, lowering yields and harvests in the 2022/23 season, risking further price hikes and threatening global food security in coming years. The minister added that price increases always have food security implications, particularly for the poorest.
He said the crisis represents a challenge for food security for many countries, especially for low income food import dependent countries and vulnerable population groups.
“In the event that there are severe export shortfalls from Ukraine and the Russian federation in 2022 and 2023, and assuming no global production response because of lack affordability and access to fertilisers, there will be an increase in the number of undernourished by close to 19 million people in 2023,” he stated.
According to the minister, at the current rate of prices, the smallholder farmers will definitely not afford to purchase these which will have negative effects on the production especially of our staple crop maize.
He said for Eswatini, a majority of smallholder farmers are reliant on fertilisers hence their high costs will definitely affect production leading to a serious food insecurity situation.
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