FAO: Assist Africa in financing food imports

Photo: ©FAO/Vladimir Mikheev

14/07/2022

On July 12, Oleg Kobiakov, Director of the Moscow FAO Liaison office with the Russian Federation, took part in a round table discussion with Africa organized by “Rossiya Segodnya” media group in the format of a video conference on the topic of “Global Challenges to Food Security”. Leading subject matter experts from Russia, Angola, Nigeria and Cameroon attended the discussion.

Oleg Ozerov, Ambassador-at-large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Head of the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, Carlos Sardinha, Ambassador and Director of the Department of International Cooperation at Angola’s Ministry of External Relations, Louis Gouend, President of the Cameroonian Diaspora in Russia, Representative of the Council of African Communities in Russia, and Cheta Nwanze, Lead Partner, Head of Research at SBM Intelligence from Nigeria, participated in the exchange of views.

During the round table, experts discussed the prerequisites for the emergence of existing threats to food security in the world and in Africa, analyzed the role of Western sanctions against Russia at the peak of the crisis, and also outlined possible ways to overcome the current situation.

Oleg Ozerov, Ambassador-at-large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Head of the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, assessing the trends that have shaped the current acute food security situation, noted that this problem had arisen long before 2022: “In the expert community there is a view that the hike in food prices is not accidental, and has the aim of creating a resource imbalance in the international division of labour and moving toward a new stage of neo-colonial policy toward developing countries.”

The expert emphasized that “food security will be among the priority topics at the second Russia-Africa Summit, the timing and venue of which will be announced later.”

Oleg Kobiakov, Director of the Moscow FAO Liaison office with the Russian Federation, noted that humanity is now moving further and further away from the goal of sustainable development aimed ateliminating hunger. In his speech, he cited current UN figures: “According to statistics for 2021, the number of people suffering from hunger in the world reached 828 million, which is about 150 million more than in pre-COVID year 2019.”

“What is the geography of world hunger today? The largest number of hungry people is in Asia – 425 million, then in Africa – 278, and in Latin America – 56 million. These figures are equivalent to 29.8 percent of the population in the respective regions. The situation is most acute in Africa, where every fifth inhabitant of this continent is chronically hungry.”

“Progress in this area is possible and requires concerted action by all UN member nations. FAO has proposed, in particular, the creation of an international fund to support the export of food, fertilizers and energy, particularly for the benefit of developing African nations,” added the Head of the Moscow FAO Liaison office.

Analyzing the problems of food imports and exports from Africa to Russia, Louis Gowend, Head of the Information Direction of the Council of African Communities in Russia, called for special attention to be paid to logistics, as well as to the development of financial payment systems, and to attracting investment to create trade infrastructure in African countries.

Carlos Sardinha, Ambassador and Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Angola, drew attention to the crucial role of Russia in food exports and voiced the readiness of the Angolan government to cooperate with Russian entrepreneurs through investments, as well as private and public partnerships.

Cheta Nwanze, Head of Research at the SBM Intelligence Analytical Centre, focused his remarks on the importance of grain and fertilizer supplies from Russia to Africa: in the tropical climates, wheat grows either very poorly or does not grow at all. Unfortunately, now many of our Africa’s own agricultural transport companies have sought to avoid transporting grain and fertilizers from Russia, fearing Western sanctions. Alternative supply corridors are needed, for example, through Iran.” He noted that “the world needs a more honest economic system, one that is not dictated by only one group of countries or people.”

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The round table received wide coverage in the international media. As of July 14 this year, a total of 43 publications posted information about the event "hot on the trail" (see the list and links).

International Multimedia Press Center of the media group "Russia Today", July 12, 2022 Sputnik publication: https://sputniknews.com/20220712/rossiya-segodnya-hosts-virtual-conference-discussing-africas-food-securityme-thinks-this-1097243173.html

Francophone media:

(Cameroon) https://www.camer.be/mobile/91615/11:1/monde-entier-cooperation-russie-afrique-proche-de-la-liberte-les-coeurs-des-colons-battent-forts-world.html

(Mali) http://malijet.com/a_la_une_du_mali/271047-rossiya-segodnya-a-organise-une-visioconference-avec-l-afrique-s.html

(Gabon) https://www.gabonmediatime.com/russie-afrique-les-defis-mondiaux-de-la-securite-alimentaire-au-coeur-dune-table-ronde/

(Gabon) https://news.abidjan.net/articles/710148/rossiya-segodnya-organise-une-visioconference-avec-lafrique-sur-la-securite-alimentaire

(Gabon) http://news.alibreville.com/h/107097.html

(Gabon) https://gabonactu.com/la-flambee-des-prix-des-produits-alimentaires-eloigne-lhumanite-de-lobjectif-deradiquer-la-faim-dans-le-monde-expert

(Democratic Republic of Congo) https://acpcongo.com/index.php/2022/07/14/rossiya-segodnya-organise-une-visioconference-avec-lafrique-sur-la-securite-alimentaire/

(Republic of Guinea) https://mediaguinee.org/rossiya-segodnya-a-organise-une-visioconference-avec-lafrique-sur-la-securite-alimentaire/

(Republic of Guinea) https://www.africa-press.net/guinee-conakry/toutes-les-actualites/rossiya-segodnya-a-organise-une-visioconference-avec-lafrique-sur-la-securite-alimentaire

(Republic of Guinea) https://guineesignal.com/2022/07/13/rossiya-segodnya-a-organise-une-visioconference-avec-lafrique-sur-la-securite-alimentaire/