AA / Dakar
“The war between Russia and Ukraine is having devastating effects in Africa, which is already suffering from food shortages,” Senegalese President Macky Sall said.
Macky Sall, also the current Chairman of the African Union (AU), was speaking at the European Union (EU) Leaders’ Summit held in Brussels, the capital of Belgium.
He said that more than a third of the world’s malnourished people, or 282 million people, lived on the African continent before the start of the war in Ukraine.
He also pointed out that an additional 46 million people in Africa are facing malnutrition and hunger due to the Covid-19 epidemic, adding that the current food crisis will produce worse results if nothing is done.
While noting that it has become difficult to find fertilizer as well as food, he pointed out that even when there is availability, prices are up three times compared to last year.
Cereal yields in Africa might decrease by 20 to 50% this year, warned Macky Sall.
He also said that Senegal has increased support for agriculture and the budget allocated to agriculture in his country, adding that some similar initiatives have been taken within the African Development Bank for the whole continent. .
“We want to do what is necessary for the release of grain stocks and the normalization of the supply chain in the near future. The exclusion of Russia from payment systems also has a negative impact on Africa, noted the Senegalese president.
The AU Chairman-in-Office called on the EU and the African Development Bank to support investments in agriculture, modern agriculture, the most efficient use of water and the use of local products .
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