Russia has donated 260,000 metric tons of fertilizer it produced that was in European ports and warehouses for use by farmers in Africa, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
“This will serve to alleviate humanitarian needs and prevent catastrophic crop losses in Africa, where the planting season is currently at,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters upon receiving the announcement.
He said a ship chartered by the World Food Program left the Netherlands on Tuesday with 20,000 tonnes of the fertilizer destined for the southeast African nation of Malawi. Dujarric said it would take around a month to reach Beira in Mozambique, and then it would be transported by land to Malawi, which is a landlocked country.
“It will be the first in a series of fertilizer shipments destined for other countries on the African continent in the coming months,” Dujarric added.
Fertilizer Crisp
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, world fertilizer prices, already inflated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, have risen further, partly due to quotas Moscow has imposed on its fertilizer exports, saying that he wanted enough for his own farmers.
The UN said that fertilizer prices have risen a staggering 250% since before the pandemic in 2019.
Russia is one of the world’s leading exporters of fertilizers. Disruptions, shortages and price increases to which their quotas have contributed have made fertilizer unaffordable for some small farmers. This could drastically decrease your harvests, which could lead to food shortages next year.
The chief economist of the World Food Program told VOA that developed and developing countries depend on fertilizers for half of their food production.
“Right now, with everything that is happening, we are essentially seeing a shortfall of about 66 million tons of food staples due to scarcity or unaffordability of fertilizers,” Arif Husain said. “I’m talking about crops like wheat, corn, rice. Now, those 66 million tons of food are enough to feed 3.6 billion people for a month.”
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Russia has complained that Western sanctions are to blame for the decline in fertilizer exports. But Western nations repeatedly stress that they do not sanction Russia’s food products or fertilizers.
But some shippers, banks, insurers and other companies involved in transporting or buying Russian grain and fertilizer have been reluctant to do business with Moscow, fearing they would breach sanctions.
diplomacy continues
A package deal signed in Istanbul on July 22 has made it possible for more than 12 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain to reach the market from three of its Black Sea ports, as it works to build trust with the private sector to return to pre-sale. -invasion of Russian grain and fertilizer export levels.
“The UN continues intensive diplomatic efforts with all parties to ensure unimpeded exports of critical food and fertilizers from the Russian Federation and Ukraine, which are exempt from sanctions regimes, to world markets,” Dujarric told reporters. .
The agreement, known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, was renewed on November 17 for four more months.
