Olawale-Cole
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has warned that, if not nipped in the bud, the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine may worsen the global hunger crisis; further jeopardise Nigeria’s food insecurity, and inflict additional hardship on Nigerians.
The Chamber’s President, Asiwaju (Dr) Michael Olawale-Cole, gave this warning in a statement, issued by the Chamber, over the weekend.
He argued that a protracted crisis between these two of the world’s major suppliers of staple grains might increase the likelihood of supply interruptions, thereby resulting in higher food prices, globally.
Cole added that the development would also put Nigeria’s food supply under some pressure; since the two countries used to supply her wheat before the war broke out.
“Nigeria imported 4% of wheat from Ukraine and 27% of wheat from Russia in 2021, according to Gallup News. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that Russia was the sixth major exporter to Nigeria as of the third quarter of 2021 coming only after China, India, the USA, Netherlands, and Belgium in that order.
“It is unclear how long the current disruptions in the food supply chain will last, even though it has already triggered higher wheat prices around the world. In developing economies including Nigeria, where populations already struggle to afford food, disruptions to food supply may result in substantial additional hardship and instability.
“Disruption of Ukrainian wheat supplies may prove doubly painful for countries already squeezed by food insecurity and rising food prices as we have in Nigeria,” the LCCI’s boss stated.
He also expressed the fear that a prolonged war between the two countries might likely affect humanitarian assistance to developing countries; since Ukraine was the second-largest supplier of wheat to the United Nation’s World Food Programme (WFP) in 2020 and 2021.
“If UN is unable to procure wheat from Ukraine, the WFP will likely have to purchase the grain from other, more expensive sources, and thus have less aid to provide to those at the greatest risk. This means that humanitarian assistance to developing countries will be disrupted at least in the short term,” Cole stated.
He, therefore, called on government at all levels, to open up their reserves (if there are any), so as to boost supply in order to stabilize prices at least in the short term.
The LCCI’s boss also advised the government to intervene by initiating imports from other sources outside the war zones.
“However, the most sustainable solution is for the government to boost local production of these staples to levels that meet local demand,” he added.
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