Foreign media: tens of millions of Africans face hunger due to lack of fertilizer

According to the daily report of November 14 of the reference news network, Tass News Agency reported on November 7 that a report completed by the African Development Bank based on the research on the current situation of the fertilizer market in Africa pointed out that in 2022, tens of millions of Africans will be on the verge of starvation due to the shortage of agricultural fertilizer caused by the sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe on Russia.

The research report of the bank shows that the fertilizer market in Africa has deteriorated seriously since this year. The reason for the shortage of fertilizer in Africa is nothing other than the interruption of fertilizer supply caused by the sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe on Russia. None of the African countries agreed to sanctions.

Africa is heavily dependent on Russian fertilizer trade. In recent years, major fertilizer importers in Africa include Cameroon, Ghana, C ô te d'Ivoire, Guinea, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Mozambique and Kenya. At present, farmers in these countries are in a difficult situation.

This year, almost all African countries will face fertilizer shortage, but West African countries have the largest gap. Due to the lack of fertilizer, Burkina Faso has become the most difficult country in West Africa, with the annual fertilizer gap exceeding 90%.

The average fertilizer gap in West Africa reached 56% this year. At the same time, the price of fertilizer is soaring.

Experts from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said that due to the conflict in Ukraine, the import of fertilizer has decreased by 1.2 million to 1.5 million tons this year. Due to the interruption of fertilizer supply from Russia and Ukraine, the grain output in this region will be reduced by 20 million tons in 2022, or 25% less than that of last year. As a result, the number of people on the verge of starvation in the region will increase by 10 million to 48 million.

In addition to the loss of large numbers of livestock, the extraordinary drought in East Africa over the past 40 years has led to famine in parts of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia. In South Sudan, torrential rains and subsequent floods have destroyed a large number of new crops, and a terrible situation is emerging.

Traditionally, Russia is the main source of fertilizer imports from Kenya and Tanzania. In 2022, the grain output of Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan is expected to decline the most. The total grain output in East Africa will approach 37.8 million tons in 2022, and 45.2 million tons in 2021, a decrease of 16%.

Southern African countries are in a relatively good situation at present, because the grain harvest of this agricultural year will be the same as that of previous years. In addition, Zimbabwe's wheat harvest is expected to reach a record high of about 380000 tons. The only exception is Mozambique. This year's grain harvest was hit hard by two tropical cyclones. However, 20 million people in this region will still face the risk of starvation this year, mainly because of the soaring food prices.