There are several reasons for the famine, and all of them are directly the consequences of the war: the undermining of food supply chains, Russia's blockade of Ukrainian products in ports, and the inability to 100% carry out the sowing campaign because Ukraine's fields are mined by Russia. The occupiers also regularly steal Ukrainian crops to Russia.
On May 24, the minister of agrarian policy of Ukraine, Mykola Solskyy, gave a comment to the Voice of America on the present of Ukrainian food and the hungry future of the planet that has already begun to be felt.
"I believe that the world's major organizations that have to deal with and anticipate such crises do not fully understand the scope of the current problems. And we said this openly, for example, to the head of the FAO. Analyzing the demand and supply of grain globally, everyone sees how much is currently lacking and draws conclusions from current problems. But here we need to look wider. When we talk, for example, about winter wheat, this summer, we are dealing with the issue of three harvests: first, we can not produce the first harvest. Which was collected last year. Secondly, we will not be able to collect and bring out the current harvest, which will need to be collected in a month or two. Because half of this crop is in the occupied territories and in the territories of active hostilities — it's Zaporizhzhia, Kherson region," Mykola Solskyy.
The Minister noted that Ukraine cannot fully implement the sowing plan. The reason for this is the temporary occupation of certain regions of Ukraine and the mining of already liberated from the Russian presence territories.
"It simply came to our notice then. I think the world will start to feel it somewhere in mid-July. Many countries will understand that, no matter how far they are from us, from the front line with Russia, they are still paying for this war," Solskyy.
Mykola Solskyy did not miss the topic of the food blockade. Russia does not allow Ukraine to export grain, and the occupiers exported the food that was already in Ukrainian ports to Russia. Today, Ukraine's export reserve contains about 10-15 million tons of wheat, which must be urgently delivered to the tables of buyers of the Ukrainian harvest.
"Exactly planned to export at least 10-15 million tons of wheat from this crop. The world will start to feel it acutely somewhere in mid-July. Because many countries in North Africa, the Arab countries, and the countries of Southeast Asia still consume what they bought earlier, the reserves that have been formed. They still have money to subsidize something, to make something cheaper. But they are all waiting for a new harvest. As in any situation, everyone hopes for the best. Like, somehow, it will be solved. But we understand that it will not be decided," Solskyy.
It will be recalled that MFA Dmytro Kuleba and Antony Blinken agreed to build new land routes to export Ukrainian grain to Asia and Africa. Ukraine has already found alternative routes: a land route through Romania and Latvian ports.
