Parts of the world can expect to see food shortages due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupting exports of fertilizer, oil, and grain..“I’m not sure it’s gonna happen in Canada, but it’s already happening in many parts of the world. There is going to be famine, for sure,” said Sylvain Charlebois, senior director of Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University..On Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden warned the world would see food shortages as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war..“It’s going to be real,” Biden said at a news conference in Brussels. “The price of the sanctions is not just imposed upon Russia. It’s imposed upon an awful lot of countries as well, including European countries and our country as well.”.Biden’s comments came as the U.S. and its allies imposed fresh sanctions on dozens of Russian defense companies, hundreds of members of its parliament, and the chief executive of the country’s largest bank..Biden added there had been a “long discussion in the G7” about the need to “increase and disseminate” food production. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also told reporters that Canada was playing a “key role” in addressing food security, such as planting as much as possible and supplying the world with potash, a key ingredient in fertilizer..Ukraine, often referred to as the “breadbasket of Europe” due to its fertile soil and vast wheat fields, has seen its wheat production disrupted due to the war. Ukrainian farmers have said they are short fertilizer, pesticides, and fuel for their equipment..Ukraine is also one of the world’s largest contributors to the World Food Programme, the UN agency that provides food aid to countries in crisis. .“If you think we’ve got hell on earth now, you just get ready,” said David Beasley, the World Food Programme’s executive director, who noted more than half of Africa’s wheat exports come from Russia and Ukraine..Charlebois said there “are going to be some issues” in areas of Africa, the Middle East, and even Europe. He said farmers in North America are looking at producing more food, but are hesitant to do so because food prices may not remain high..“Say the conflict were to end tomorrow. They would have to sell their product at a lesser price while paying more for fertilizer,” Charlebois said, noting fertilizer costs are greater than the price increases for many commodities..Russia and Belarus are leading exporters of fertilizer, but sanctions on both countries in recent months have disrupted exports..“So the challenge for farmers is that they’re motivated to plant more, but planting more will come at a risk,” he said. “Trying to offset the [food] deficit created by the invasion is not easily done because there’s a lot of uncertainty. That’s not a great situation to be in.”.Matthew Horwood is the Parliamentary Bureau Chief of the Western Standard
