Food crisis looms on the heels of Covid and Russian-Ukrainian war
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Covid and the Russian-Ukrainian war have accelerated conditions that threaten a severe food crisis in Nigeria and 44 other countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America (LATAM), warns Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
BCG, a global management consulting firm, sounded the alert in a report which explores in detail the multiple direct and indirect impacts on global food systems of the Russian genocide in Ukraine.
The report, co-authored with Food Systems for the Future, also provides 30 near- and medium-term solutions to help respond to the crisis and improve the resilience of global food systems.
It said the affected countries, which are concentrated in Africa, South Asia, and LATAM, are hotspots around the world as they endure some of the worst effects of the food shortage.
Nigeria and these other countries face severe levels of extreme poverty, compounded by the economic and social challenges of the pandemic, said the report titled, “The war in Ukraine and the rush to feed the world”.
It listed additional factors worsening the food problems to include:
- Heavy reliance on food imports
- High import bills
- High inflation
- High debt burden, climate risks
- Civil unrest
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1.7b people at risk of severer foo insecurity
An estimated 1.7 billion people – most of them in developing economies – could suffer severely increased food insecurity, higher energy prices, or greater debt burdens, according to the UN Task Team for the Global Crisis Response Group.
It warns that each of these individual factors adversely affect people’s ability to feed themselves.
“At the same time, there is a critical need to address them more holistically and across all sectors in order to reshape our food systems so that we can counteract this humanitarian crisis – and future ones,” the Task Force said, per The PUNCH.
BCG Nigeria Partner and Managing Director Stefano Niavas said: “The impact of the Ukraine war on our food systems calls for critical and immediate review of our budgetary allocation.
“Currently, Nigeria spends over 27 times of its agriculture allocation to service its debt.
“Compounded with the Ukraine war and the lingering challenges of COVID-19, the average debt-to-GDP ratio across the continent is expected to rise from 60 per cent to 70 per cent.
“To minimise the impact of the crisis on Nigeria’s food systems, the government and all critical stakeholders should ensure stabilising the rising cost of food and fertilizer by the provision of viable seedlings, supporting the growth of alternative nutritious grains, driving the adoption of innovative farm practices.
“The introduction of alternative sources of fertilizer will help reduce the country’s reliance on food imports.”
