Published on : 24/07/2022 – 06:39
After the Russian bombardment of the port of Odessa on Saturday, the agreement concluded the day before between Ukraine and Russia, and providing for secure corridors to export by the Black Sea 20 to 25 million tons of Ukrainian cereals, is weakened, if not lapsed. This is enough to dampen the hopes of African countries to see the prices of their food imports and fertilizers calm down.
Africa might expect the agreement between Ukraine and Russia a decline in world cereal prices, particularly wheat. But according to commodity specialist Philippe Chalmin, the bombardment of Odessa calls into question the hopes of the continent. ” It is true that with an agreement, prices would have logically tended to fall. And that following the bombardment of the port of Odessa, the movement [de baisse] will be curbed. Obviously, it is not tomorrow or even the day following that Ukrainian cereals will be able to leave Ukrainian ports freely. “, he believes.
Put pressure on the European Union
Thanks to the agreement, the embargo on Russian fertilizers should have been lifted, which would have led to a drop in the prices of fertilizers, already very expensive because of the surge in the price of the gas which composes them. It is urgent, underlines Philippe Chalmin, to set up alternative land routes for Ukrainian cereals and fertilizers.
« Africa does not have much to hope for from these diplomatic moves. And it seems to me that it would be better for it to put pressure on the European Union so that it finances – which would not be very high, moreover – the land capacities, in particular rail, to get out by land the Ukrainian cereals, bring them to the Danube, and be able to export them from Romanian or Bulgarian ports. »
African states must also, according to the researcher, put in place agricultural policies that reduce their food dependence.
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