Stuff Digital Edition

Plight of Ukraine farmers raises prospect of famine

Half of Ukraine’s grain farmers will not sow crops next year unless exports under a deal brokered by the United Nations with Russia are drastically stepped up, the nation’s largest agricultural lobby says.

The grain deal announced two weeks ago aimed to stave off a catastrophic cut to the world’s food supplies by opening up Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, which have been blockaded since Russia invaded.

A few vessels have been allowed to leave but only two ships have entered the affected ports since the deal was struck. Without payment for this year’s crops, many farmers cannot afford to grow produce they cannot sell, raising the prospect of famines in parts of Africa and the Middle East.

Alex Lissitsa, of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club, which represents the country’s largest food producers, said four million tonnes of grain was stored at the ports. ``So roughly 20 million tonnes are lying in storage somewhere that haven’t been paid for,’’ he added.

The cost of planting a crop now, with massively increased production costs and limited prospects of selling it, would bankrupt many farmers, he said.

``When farmers usually start the summer wheat-sowing again in March, there will be no money, no seed, no plant protection, no inputs for planting,’’ he said. ``About 50 per cent of farmers will be affected.’’

Russia’s invasion has led food prices to rise across the developed world due to shortages of staples for human and farm animal consumption.

Maritime freight companies remain reluctant to send their ships to Ukraine after Russia bombed the Odesa port a day after the deal was signed.

Although European governments have helped to accelerate land transport and the processing of grain, it will not be enough to save next year’s winter wheat crop, which needs to be planted in the autumn, Lissitsa said.

``I don’t believe we will export enough grain before September. We still have grain loaded on the ships and in storage facilities that needs to be exported first, and that will take at least three months.’’

Before the war began in February, Ukraine exported up to six million tonnes of grain per month, as well as millions of tonnes of sunflower seed, soya and other crops. About 400 million people in the developing world depend on agricultural produce from the traditional ``breadbasket of Europe’’.

Since both sides agreed last month’s deal to open the ports – signed in Istanbul in the presence of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Antonio Guterres, the UN secretarygeneral – four ships have left the southern ports, helping Ukraine to increase its exports from 200,000 tonnes at the peak of the conflict in March to 2.66 million in July. Yet the country still has at least 16 million tonnes of grain lying in storage and is expecting this year’s harvest to reach 70 million tonnes, the government estimates.

Markian Dmytrasevych, Ukraine’s deputy minister for agrarian policy, said it was disappointing that more shipping companies were not taking advantage of the deal, which is valid for at least 120 days. Buyers were waiting to see what happened with initial shipments, he said.

``It’s hard to see the results of it now,’’ Dmytrasevych said. ``We need to wait to the end of August to see if it has an impact on the market. We understand that the Russians can stop this grain corridor but we hope it will work.’’

Ukrainian woes have been added to by the cancellation of orders and loan recalls as a result of the war.

The Lebanese buyer of the first consignment to leave Odesa cancelled its order on Thursday, citing the long delay in delivery.

World

en-nz

2022-08-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282003266204325

Stuff Limited