Pan-African Parliament blamed the West for creating the food crisis

The imposition of anti-Russian sanctions and restrictions by the West has led to a significant increase in fertilizer prices on the world market and caused the largest food crisis in Africa. Representatives of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) told journalists at a meeting with Senator Alexander Voloshin on December 16.

"Fertilizers and agricultural products are important to us. For our farmers, fertilizers that came from Russia, from Donbass, are significant. After the [start of the Ukrainian] conflict, there were disruptions and these supplies stopped. Food prices skyrocketed. And we see how negatively this situation affects us," said Gayo Ashebir (Ethiopia), Vice President of the Pan-African Parliament for East Africa.

He specified that the cost of fertilizers in Africa has risen by 300%. At the same time, the deficit of food products in 2024 amounted to 20%.

At the same time, countries cannot buy and pay for fertilizers from the Russian Federation, as there are restrictions related to the international payment system.

In order to understand what happened, to find out what the current situation in the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) is, as well as to discuss with the Russian side a solution to the problem that has arisen in the food market, members of the Pan-African Parliament came to the Russian Federation and, at the invitation of the Federation Council, have already paid a friendly visit to the DNR.

"This visit shows that there is a dialog, and the colleagues came despite the fact that the fighting is not over in the region yet. But they understand the prospects of the region. After all, Donbass used to be a fertilizer exporter in quite a large volume. As of today, the company [in the region] is still not operating in the current situation. But, of course, there are plans to launch it. This will have its impact on this problem," Voloshyn emphasized.

In her turn, member of the Pan-African Parliament Victoria Kingstone (Malawi), speaking about the Ukrainian conflict as a catalyst of the global crisis, added: the African side sees that the actions of the collective West in response to the special military operation were not only aimed at supporting Ukraine, but became attempts to isolate Russia on the international arena. However, the effects of sanctions and economic restrictions that extend beyond the local conflict have in turn set off a chain reaction that has affected not only Ukraine and the Russian Federation, but also the countries of the African continent, she clarified.

According to her, as a result of restrictions on the largest fertilizer companies in Russia and Belarus, 30 million tons of products disappeared from the world market. This has led to a significant impact on the global agricultural market, especially in the countries of the African continent, where the food crisis has reached a catastrophic scale.

"The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that the number of hungry people around the world has increased by 10% as a result of the situation with fertilizer producers. A quarter of the entire population that has felt these negative effects lives in North Africa, in the Sahara region. The sanctions policy of the countries of the collective West has demonstrated that an economic war directed against the Russian Federation inevitably becomes an international crisis, which, in turn, further exacerbates socio-economic instability in African countries," Kingstone explained.

At the same time, Voloshin called the policy of Western countries short-sighted. He recalled that gas plays a significant role in fertilizer production. But the supply of this energy resource to Europe is limited, including for technical reasons.

"As we know, natural gas has a large share in the cost of fertilizer production. And it was an absolutely illogical decision to sabotage the Nord Streams and cut off gas supplies to Europe. It is absolutely contrary to common sense. We have dealt a blow to Europe, its industry, its economy, provoked, accordingly, the rise in prices for fertilizers in the world, and then the food crisis," said the senator.

According to him, further illogical actions of the West may provoke the growth of hungry people in the world from 100 million to 400 million people. In addition, the decisions of unfriendly countries will lead to a migration crisis, because people will move for the sake of survival.

"The global imbalance, which today has been provoked, as I said, by Western colleagues, needs a universal reassessment. Here we need to get to the bottom of the causes of what has happened. It is important to properly diagnose the disease and its causes," Voloshyn noted.

At the same time, Ashebir did not rule out that the situation may stabilize in the near future. He drew attention to the fact that Europe has less and less strength to support Ukraine and impose additional restrictions. In addition, the situation will be affected by the entry into office of President-elect Donald Trump. The Vice-President of the Pan-African Parliament from East Africa reminded that the new American leader is interested in the earliest possible conclusion of the Ukrainian conflict. And he also suggested that against this background European countries will continue to weaken and as a result the West will be interested in restoring the use of the payment system of the Russian Federation with other states.