THE war in Ukraine has resulted in a significant increase in the global prices of food. Not even the bigger economies have been spared. In fact, there has been a significant increase in food prices recently in the United States which, according to President Joe Biden, is partly the result of the war in Ukraine. The costs of fuel and grains have risen sharply on the world market.

Wheat and corn account for almost a third of all calories in the world. Russia and Ukraine together export about 30 per cent of all wheat and about 18 per cent of all corn in the world.

It is, therefore, no wonder that there is so much concern about the war in Ukraine and the impact any further escalation could have on the nutritional status of people all across the globe.

The Middle East and North Africa are particularly vulnerable. Roughly 400 million people globally depend on grain supplies from Ukraine alone.

The statistics are alarming. Export of grains from Ukraine is terminated. Exports from Russia are also similarly affected. It is anyone’s guess how much longer the war will last.

Meanwhile, the food crisis in many parts of the world remains dire. In Yemen, malnutrition rates among women and children remain among the highest in the world, with 1.2 million pregnant or breastfeeding women and 2.3 million children under five requiring treatment for acute malnutrition. The same is true for several other countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Thankfully, the Caricom region has been spared the full impact of the food crisis due to several strategies to ensure food and nutrition security, even though there is a fair measure of misalignment between supply and demand in the region due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in supply chain disruptions.  Guyana’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, who has lead responsibility for agriculture in CARICOM has been very vocal in urging for greater emphasis on agricultural production in the region and for reducing the volume of imported food into the region which amounted to billions of dollars annually. In Guyana, every effort is being made to prevent the dreaded ‘Dutch Disease’ from affecting us.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation anticipated further increases in the prices of wheat and grains as the Ukraine war escalates. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 159.3 points in March, up 12.6 per cent from February when it had already reached its highest level since 1990. The Index tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a basket of commonly-traded food commodities. The most recent level of the index was 33.6 per cent higher compared to March 2021.

Of interest to note is that the FAO Cereal Price Index was 17.1 per cent higher in March than in the previous month due to steep increases in the price of wheat as a result of the war in Ukraine. World wheat prices increased by nearly 20 per cent during this month, alone. The same is true also for the prices of maize and corn. The price of rice, however, has remained basically the same and in fact still 10 per cent below market prices from a year ago. The trend of rising prices is evident also in dairy, milk and meat production.

Guyana is taking some innovative measures to deal with the issue of food security. In the coming weeks, the country will commence the trial stage of 15 varieties of wheat to determine which variety is best suited to our climate. According to Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, Guyana is in contact with the Mexican Government for technical assistance.

The Government of Guyana must be commended for putting agriculture as the backbone of the Guyana economy. President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has indeed risen to the task of making Guyana once again the bread basket of the Caribbean.