The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) continues to be concerned about the impact that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is having on prices in the world, including Latin America and the Caribbean, from which the Dominican Republic does not escape.
The FAO representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, Julio Berdegué, speaking from Chile, told the elCaribe newspaper that the situation could lead to a sudden and pronounced reduction in world wheat exports and that the prospects for oil exports sunflower and other oils are also uncertain.
“Together, Russia and Ukraine account for more than a third of world grain exports. Russia is the world’s leading producer of fertilizers and an important supplier of this key input to the Latin American region,” he said.
“In Latin America we could see an impact on inflation greater than what we are already seeing, as well as impacts on the production of rice, coffee, soybeans and others, due to the lack of fertilizers,” he warned. FAO urgently called on the international community to take five key steps. The first is to keep the global food and fertilizer trade open, the second is to diversify food suppliers, the third is to support vulnerable groups, including those who are food insecure, with social safety nets to protect the poorest from the rise in food.
A fourth measure suggested by the United Nations body is to avoid unilateral reactions in politics and the fifth is to strengthen the transparency of the world food market through information sharing and multilateral dialogue, helping everyone, governments and investors to make decisions informed.
Order unit and take advantage of food reserves
Countries that depend on imports from the Russian Federation and Ukraine should take advantage of their food reserves and diversify their domestic production, according to the FAO.
And he asked governments to consider the effects of their interventions in international markets so as not to cause more unwanted increases in prices. He asked to join forces.
