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Without fertilizers from Russia and Belarus, the world could be hit hard, the chief economist of the UN's FAO warned.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) chief economist Maximo Torero said that countries worldwide might run into trouble due to a lack of access to fertilizers from Eastern Europe.
"If in the next month or two we are not able to get all the fertilizers that key exporting countries need, then we will face a significant challenge. And that's for the next harvest, for 2023, so the main concern for us is 2023," the official said.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Rebeca Grynspan, met with Russian officials in Moscow earlier this week to address the issue of unblocking access to world markets for Russian fertilizers and wheat.
Amid allegations that Russia is blocking grain shipments from Ukrainian ports, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the country is ready to help provide a free-flowing export of Ukrainian grain across the ports under its control.
JUN 3 ��
— �� ASHES ���� ☭ (@AshPashuBlack) June 3, 2022
African Union: "Sanctions against #Russia exacerbated hunger, we no longer have access to grain, especially wheat, & most importantly to fertilizers, which poses a serious threat to food security"
Putin: "���� always supported #Africa in fight against colonialism"#Ukraine pic.twitter.com/IeQsuwByIe
Putin has also said that it is necessary to lift sanctions against Moscow to boost supplies to the world market, noting that Western countries have used a short-sighted, stupid, and wrong policy by sanctioning Russian fertilizers.
According to an article released Thursday by the British newspaper The Guardian, most Western countries, whose economies are reliant on gas imports from Russia, have experienced low economic growth and high inflation, coupled with rising unemployment, due to the energy sanctions imposed on Russia.
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