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The world has about 10 weeks of wheat stocks in storage as some of the grain's major growing regions go through a dry season.
A report presented to the United Nations Security Council reported that the world has about 10 weeks of wheat stocks in storage, as some major wheat-producing regions are experiencing a dry season.
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Sara Menker, CEO of the agricultural analysis firm Gro Intelligence, told the UN Security Council that the conflict in Ukraine was not the cause of a food security crisis, but contributed to its aggravation.
The problem of a food crisis associated with the fragility of our supply chains loomed before the conflict in Ukraine, even in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, she summarized.
"I share this because we believe it is important for all of you to understand that even if the war were to end tomorrow, our food security issue is not going to go away anytime soon without concerted action," she emphasized.
UN Security Council
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Food Insecurity & Climate Change Analyst, Sara Menker, Warns the UN Security Council That the World Has Just '10 Weeks' of Wheat Supplies Left pic.twitter.com/7mz5PqiKuT
The wheat market was shaken by India's embargo on its exports and in the midst of a reconfiguration of the sector with measures such as authorizing the cultivation of genetically modified wheat in Argentina. India announced a total ban on wheat exports to ensure food security for its 1.4 billion inhabitants.
Russia and Ukraine produce about a quarter of the world's wheat exports.
According to Sara Menker, executive director of Gro Intelligence, global supplies of the grain have been affected by a number of “extraordinary” challenges, including fertilizer shortages, weather disruptions, record consumption in cooking oils and grains.
The relentless and deadly heat wave in India and Pakistan is now having ripple effects across the world, squeezing the already-disrupted global wheat supply.
— Ani Dasgupta (@AniDasguptaWRI) May 17, 2022
Countries must work fast to protect vulnerable communities from the devastating impacts of climate change and conflict. pic.twitter.com/OMQK9FgFM5
Menker said droughts around the world are contributing to the decline in wheat resources, and global food supplies are also impacted by climate change and fertilizer shortages. "Without immediate and substantial, aggressive coordinated global action, we risk an extraordinary amount of human suffering and economic damage", she said.
"This is not cyclical, this is seismic. It is a once-in-a-generation event that can dramatically reshape the geopolitical era," she told the UN Security Council.
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