The chief executive of Dangote Industries, Aliko Dangote, has urged the Nigerian government and citizens to get prepared for the possibility of food scarcity that might arise as a result of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
The industrialist disclosed this in Lagos at the 4th Annual Nigerian Food Processors and Nutrition Leadership Forum, organized by the Aliko Dangote Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and TechnoServe, under the Strengthening African Processors of Fortified Foods (SAPFF) program.
The current war goes beyond borders because of how heavily the rest of the world relies on the two countries for wheat and other grains such as corn and barley, as Ukraine provides about 15% of the world’s corn supply, while Ukraine and Russia account for about 30% of the global barley supply.
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Cutting off supply will drive up prices of food at a time when the economic fallout from the pandemic is still affecting many households, and a lot of people that have lost their jobs will have to deal with inflation without purchasing power.
Dangote advised that the government needed to stop exportation of maize and grow more to ensure food security, while explaining that there would be a shortage of wheat, maize, and urea in the global market as a result of the war between the two countries.
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He pointed out that Russia and Ukraine were numbers one and five in wheat production, accounting for one third of global wheat production, and that the two countries produced about 13 per cent of urea, 26 per cent of potash, and were one of the largest producers of phosphate globally.
To corroborate that was the chief executive officer of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Boye Olusanya, who noted that prices of wheat had increased and that the impact would also affect maize as Ukraine is the largest producer.
