Russia announced Monday that it had suspended a humanitarian corridor that supplies major Ukrainian grains to global markets hours before the deal expired, further adding more pressure on Nigeria’s food supply.
The UN-brokered Black Sea Grains Initiative was first launched in July 2022 and has been briefly extended amid growing Russian frustration over what it perceives as restricting full shipments of its grain and fertilizer exports. It’s here.
The initiative was launched to stem a global food crisis after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, a major grain exporter.
Nigeria, which traditionally gets much of its wheat from the Black Sea region, is suffering severe agricultural impacts from the Russo-Ukrainian war, according to a report by the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) Global Agricultural Information Network.
- “The Black Sea Agreement is no longer valid today. The deadline is July 17, as previously stated by the President of the Russian Federation.”
Unfortunately, the Russian part of this Black Sea Agreement has not yet been implemented.
Therefore, the effect is over,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a Google Translate comment, reported by Russian state news agency TASS on Monday.
Consequently, Nigeria has already declared a national emergency on food security because of record inflation, which has rendered many basic goods costly and increased the rate of malnutrition.
After Nigeria controversially ended a lengthy, expensive petroleum subsidy, food costs skyrocketed.
National Bureau of Statistics highlighted that the country’s annual inflation rate rose to 22.41% in May from 22.22% the previous month
- The FAS reported that “Nigeria is spending more on wheat imports as global wheat prices are rising in the wake of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
- “The value chain of Nigeria’s wheat supply is being negatively impacted by this circumstance. It was a significant source of wheat.”
The FG is attempting to enhance domestic wheat output in part due to this circumstance.
According to FAS, Nigeria’s production is anticipated to rise by 42% in the marketing year 2023–2024, partly because of the Nigerian Mills Association (FMAN) agreeing to sign up for a contract to purchase wheat at fair prices.
A memorandum of understanding serves as its foundation.
Planted area is expected to rise 30% to 130,000 hectares, according to the report, and production in Nigeria, which relies on imports for more than 95% of its wheat supply each year, is expected to rise from 110,000 to 156,000 tons.
The Grain Agreement allowed the export of commercial foodstuffs and fertilizers, including ammonia, from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports: Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdeny (formerly known as Yuzhny).
