By Aondo Tiver
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo hit the bull’s eye recently when he blamed policy somersault as one of the major hindrances to achieving food security in Africa and the continent’s overall development.
Obasanjo advised that African governments should stay away from getting involved in the business of production but rather provide the enabling environment that could make the private sector drive the economy of the country. Yes, Policy somersaults all over the world fueled by politics.
Only recently the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO), in a statement, recognized that ‘’Western sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine targeting food, mineral fertilizer, logistics and financial settlements make global hunger worse, while this trend is expected to gain traction around the world’’.
These sanctions have placed food insecurity among the challenges the world is facing today. While food insecurity is an endemic problem in Africa ravaged by centuries of colonialism and western imperialism, the United States is threatening to make the crisis even worse.
The New York Times reported that the US government is pressuring food – insecure countries in Africa not to buy Russian wheat, knowing that the continent is a key market for it. As one of the world’s top producers of wheat, Russia is a significant source of food for the continent and has important trade relations with it lasting many years.
African countries, according to a report in the The Guardian of Britain, ‘’remember Moscow’s support for liberation from colonial rule, and a strong anti – imperialist feeling remains.’’ The report noted that a significant number of African leaders are ‘’calling for peace in Ukraine but blaming the eastward expansion of the Atlantic Alliance (NATO) for the war, complaining of western ’double standards’ and resisting all calls to criticize Russia.’’
The establishment newspaper conceded that nations like South Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola, and Mozambique, ‘’are still being ruled by parties that were supported by Moscow during their struggle for liberation from colonial or white supremacist rule.’’
Be that as it may, Africa is becoming a key player in the global grain trade, particularly in wheat. It is the world’s second largest wheat importing region after Asia. With a constantly increasing demand, linked to local production difficulties, particularly in North Africa, the continent is attracting more attention from major international suppliers, including Russia.
In 2024, Russian wheat exports to African countries reportedly surged by 35%, about 21 million tons of wheat shipped, up from 17.6 million tons in 2023, marking a 19.3% increase. This growth, according to reports, was largely due to increased purchases by Morocco, Nigeria, Kenya, and 12 other countries, including Ethiopia and Djibouti, that it had not exported to the previous year.
Despite hunger in Africa the collective West went to great lengths to block aid deliveries to African nations by overtly restricting them and imposing sanctions, primarily focusing on Russian fertilizer shipments, which have always had a big impact in the developing world.
In fact, the European Union (EU) still retains about 150,000 tons of fertilizer, mostly in Latvia. But the United Nations eventually stepped in to facilitate the delivery of over 111,000 tons of humanitarian aid to Malawi, Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
February 2024 saw the completion of a gratuitous transfer of 200,000 tons of Russian wheat to six poorest African nations namely Mali, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Somalia, and the Central African Republic, and about 380,000 tons of food aid to other nations of Africa and Asia.
The Zimbabwe president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, said that his country received 34,000 tons of Russian fertilizers and drought resistant grain varieties as humanitarian aid between 2023 and 2024 after the country declared a state of emergency following a major drought and a pest invasion.
To curb hunger in Africa, there is the need to improve agricultural production and promote import substitution as an alternative to imposing prohibitive customs duties in order to reduce agricultural imports. It is equally important to focus on promoting international cooperation in terms of technology sharing and engaging in joint research and technology projects.
Analysts say facilitating the development of African nations must serve as the bedrock for a multipolar world order. Using Africa’s abundant natural resources for promoting inclusive growth should be one of the central objectives on the international development agenda, considering that the continent possesses vast territories, which can be used to expand agricultural production.
In today’s world, the ambiguous nature of the global food market defines food security – related matters. On the one hand, is the fierce competition in this market with the leading exporters and importers of agricultural products calling the tune. On the other, many other countries in the market have to adapt to volatile prices defined by the way major players steer the market.
Sharp price fluctuations usually hit the global food market whenever there is disaster in the realms of geopolitics, climate or humanitarian issues. There were fears in 2024 of a sharp price increase related to unfavorable planting conditions in key producing regions, in particular, Russia, Europe, and the US.
The leading wheat exporters and importers responded to this extreme price volatility on the grain market by seeking to reinforce their standing on the global market. The EU imposed prohibitive tariffs on grain imports from Russia and Belarus. To justify these measures, the EU officials said it was a means to prevent the destabilization of the European market, but this posture does not hold water.
Analysts said the EU initiatives was an effort to ramp up sanctions pressure in order to compete for dominance on the global grain market where Russia has been enjoying positive momentum. Beyond the politics of hunger in the world today, Africa has the potential to call the tune in the world food market if as Obasanjo has said the government provide the enabling environment to realize that potential.
Tiver writes from Makurdi.
