By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The government of the Russian Republic has said it cannot accept the blame for the current challenges bringing the global food value chain to its knees.
It reiterated that has no hand in the escalation of global food challenges and therefore should be absurd of any blame.
The Russian government’s claim was made in a statement posted as a thread on its Ghana’s Embassy Twitter handle.
The Russian Government in the post contended that the current situation in the agricultural space is not as a result of happenings within the last two months, but not due to a steady trend of happenings on the global stage in the last two years.
“Food prices started rising in mid-2020 and reached an all-time high in February 2022. This is a real market shock caused by high demand and rising prices on food, raw materials, and transportation services, including freight, in the post-COVID recovery period.”
It further continues by saying the issues in recent times, especially within the agricultural space, are associated with: “first of all, miscalculations and systematic mistakes in the macroeconomic [strategy] (including financial trade) energy (including climate) and food policies of developed countries. COVID-19 followed by the breach of supply and distribution chains as well as [a] spike in freight and insurance rates.”
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 following the former Soviet Union leader’s disagreement with NATO’s eastward expansion.
Most governments, including the government of Ghana, say the Russia-Ukraine war is directly affecting their economies and agricultural value chain.
Data shows that Russia and Ukraine together account for nearly 30 percent of the global wheat trade.