In light of recent events that have temporarily halted Ukraine’s food exports to African countries, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has issued a warning to Nigeria and other African nations to prepare for an increase in food prices.
During a virtual press conference held on Thursday, Isobel Coleman, the Deputy Administrator for Policy and Programming at USAID, highlighted that the withdrawal of Russia from the Black Sea Grain Initiative has started to result in increased food prices globally.
His words: “I observed that the rise in food prices would have a greater impact on developing countries that heavily relied on imports and traditionally sourced grains from Ukraine.
“One of the world’s largest breadbaskets is Ukraine. By doing this, Russia is increasing food prices globally. We’ve already seen how global food prices came down over time after the Black Sea Grain Initiative came into place. Since Russia has pulled out of the agreement, food prices have again been on the rise.
“This affects every country around the world, but it affects, most acutely, large import-dependent developing countries that have to spend much of their precious foreign exchange resources to purchase food to feed their population.”