France urges food security crisis plan to avoid famine stoked by Ukraine war

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for an urgent international food security plan to avert “famine” in vulnerable countries, notably in Africa, since the Russian war in Ukraine has led to a sharp drop in cereal exports.

Russia is the world’s largest exporter of wheat, and Ukraine the fourth. Dozens of countries are dependent on their production.

Speaking after NATO and G7 summits in Brussels, Macron urged Russia to show responsibility by allowing farm production in Ukraine.

“We are entering an unprecedented food crisis,” he said.

Without Ukraine exports, “inevitable famine” in some countries would follow within 12 to 18 months, with Egypt and North Africa facing severe grain shortfalls.

Boosting production

As President of the Council of the EU and in conjunction with the African Union, Macron proposed a “food security initiative” with an “emergency plan for releasing stocks in the event of a crisis to avoid any shortage and moderate price rises”.

It would involve adapting the existing Farm to Fork strategy, which calls for halving the use of pesticides by 2030 and reducing the use of chemical fertilisers by 20 percent.

But the anticipated drop in production that Farm to Fork would entail makes it no longer adapted to the world situation post-Ukraine war, Macron said earlier.

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Another component of the plan is to “obtain a multilateral commitment not to impose restrictions on the export of agricultural raw materials”, in order to avoid blockages like those that affected vaccine exports during the Covid crisis.

Access for all

Macron also called for “coordinated action by producer countries this summer to temporarily raise production thresholds where possible” and “to put in place a volume allocation mechanism to ensure access for all, especially the most vulnerable, in sufficient quantities and at reasonable prices”.

The allocation mechanism is inspired by the Covid vaccine distribution initiative in the poorest countries, he said.

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He also suggested helping production in the countries most affected, “by significantly increasing investment in sustainable food production and agricultural value chains”.

Macron said he had presented this initiative to his G7 counterparts, many of whom are large producers, to engage them in this process, and wants to expand it within the G20.