Zelenskyy's global food crisis prediction may be 10 weeks away, UN official says: 'Seismic'
Ukraine and Russia account for 30% of the world's wheat supply
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A food supply expert warns that the world faces a global crisis in just 10 weeks, echoing a warning from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"Russia has blocked almost all ports and all, so to speak, maritime opportunities to export food – our grain, barley, sunflower and more. A lot of things," Zelenskyy said Saturday. "There will be a crisis in the world. The second crisis after the energy one, which was provoked by Russia."
"Now it will create a food crisis if we do not unblock the routes for Ukraine, do not help the countries of Africa, Europe, Asia, which need these food products," he added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Zelenskyy said that if Ukraine does not regain control of the contested southern ports, the world will face a difficult situation: The country produces a substantial amount of the global food supply, including between 25% and 30% of the world’s grain supply along with Russia.
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According to data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity, Ukraine also accounts for 9.29% of the world’s corn supply.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Russia currently has blockaded the ports of Odesa and Mariupol and the two countries continue to fight over it.
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The world has only 10 weeks’ worth of wheat left to deal with the crisis, according to Sara Menker, CEO of Gro Intelligence.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This is seismic," Menker said during a special meeting of the U.N. Security Council. "Even if the war were to end tomorrow, our food security problem isn’t going away anytime soon without concerted action."
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Gro Intelligence uses artificial intelligence and public and private data to predict food supply trends. Menker stresses that Russia’s invasion did not start a food security crisis, it did "fuel" what was already going on.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Without aggressive global actions, we stand the risk of an extraordinary amount of human suffering and economic damage," Menker said.