Africa's wheat dilemma
Full details
| Authors & editors | |
| Publisher | World Grain |
| Year of publication | 2024 October 14 |
| Languages | English (main text) |
| Medium | Digital Note: Copyright restrictions mean the attachment below only contains part of the publication. The full document is available for inspection at the Mills Archive Research and Education Centre. |
| Edition | 1 |
| Topics | |
| Tags | |
| Scope & content | Introduction Before Russia invaded Ukraine, triggering a disruption of the global wheat supply and exacerbating the continent’s wheat deficit crisis, Africa’s wheat industry already was battling climate change, unfavourable trade policies, and inadequate investments in the sub-sector. Africa spends up to $75 billion to import an estimated 100 million tonnes of cereals every year, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB). It relies on international wheat markets to meet its consumption requirements as production volumes remain inadequate, but imports remain a challenge as the Russia-Ukraine conflict has disrupted the global supply chain in the world wheat market. The continent currently imports around 40 million tonnes of wheat annually valued at $15 billion with the AfDB noting that wheat imports comprise up to 90% of Africa’s $4 billion trade with Russia and nearly half of the continent’s $4.5 billion trade with Ukraine. “Sanctions against Russia have disrupted grain shipments at a time when global stockpiles were already tight and this is now raising the spectre of mass starvation on a continent that depends on food imports to feed itself,” it said. Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 (https://www.world-grain.com/topics/1920-ukraine-conflict), Africa’s wheat production and supply chains were grappling with the adverse effects of climate change characterized by rising temperatures, drought and flash floods as well as civil conflicts in places like Sudan and Ethiopia. These factors have combined to constrain growth of the region’s food systems, especially wheat. |
| Web URL | www.world-grain.com/articles/20564-africas-wheat-dilemma |
