The countries of the European Union (EU) announced on Friday an initiative to alleviate food shortages in countries in vulnerable situations, caused by the war in Ukraine, a country considered “the breadbasket of Europe.”
This new programme, identified by the initials FARM, aims to increase transparency on world stocks, guarantee supply to countries at risk and encourage production in fragile regions, indicates the Declaration of the EU summit that closed this Friday in Brussels.
“This multilateral work must ensure the efficient functioning of markets and encourage local production to reduce the risk of food insecurity,” the document reads.
“The integrity of food supply chains must be preserved,” it reinforces.
The Declaration also calls for special attention to measures to establish “reasonable prices for food in the EU”.
On the opening day of the summit, on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron had launched a proposal for an emergency plan on world food security and cereal production.
The absence of a crop in Ukraine due to the Russian invasion, Macron said, could produce “an inevitable famine” in 12 to 18 months, with possible grain shortages in Egypt and North Africa.
The proposal also includes “obtaining a multilateral commitment not to impose restrictions on the export of agricultural raw materials”, avoiding blockades such as those that occurred with vaccine exports during the covid-19 pandemic.
