Food Security: AfDB warns of looming nutrition crisis in Nigeria, others

*The African Development Bank, in Cote d’Ivoire, has urged Nigeria and other African countries to prepare for a looming global food crisis by increasing food production

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

In view of uncertainties in the global economy of recent, African Development Bank (AfDB) has urged Nigeria and other African countries to prepare for a global food crisis largely occasioned by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

ConsumerConnect reports Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of AfDB, who noted this development in a statement said the war had worsened the woes of several Africans that resulted from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and climate change.

Foods and grains

According to the statement, Adesina gave the advice while speaking about Africa’s priorities as a guest at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center Friday, April 22, 2022.

Adesina also explained that Russia and Ukraine supply 30 percent of global wheat exports, the price of which has surged by almost 50 percent globally, reaching identical levels as during the 2008 global food crisis.

The continental lender as well urged African leaders to fend off food crisis by rapidly expanding the continent’s food production.

“My basic principle is that Africa should not be begging. We must solve our own challenges ourselves without depending on others.”

The AfDB President also emphasised the need for an increased sense of urgency amid what he described as a once-in-a-century convergence of global challenges for Africa.

Africa, with the lowest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rates, lost as many as 30 million jobs to the COVID-19  pandemic alone, said he.

Adesina also stated that the effects of the  Russia-Ukraine war had spread far beyond Ukraine to other parts of the world, including Africa.

According to him, besides the surging wheat prices, the costs of fertilizer and energy prices had also increased,  thereby fuelling inflation.

Adesina warned that the new costs of fertilizer, energy and food baskets, could worsen in Africa in the coming months.

He noted that 90 percent of Russia’s $4billion exports to Africa in 2020 were made up of wheat, and 48 per cent of Ukraine’s near $3 billion exports to the continent was made up of wheat and 31 per cent of maize.

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