Red Sea attacks reverberate in food and ag trade
Rebel attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea are disrupting grain shipments from Europe, Ukraine, and Russia to customers in East Africa and Asia, with the potential to drive up food costs in import-dependent countries, said a think tank blog on Wednesday. “While this worst-case scenario for the Red Sea crisis is still unlikely, the current disruption is a reminder of the fragility of supply chains and the need for countries to be flexible in sourcing food when disruptions occur.”
Kremlin uses Black Sea grain as blackmail, says Blinken
Russia is exporting more grain at higher prices than ever before while suppressing Ukrainian shipments, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday. “Every member of this council, every member of the United Nations should tell Moscow: Enough using the Black Sea as blackmail, enough treating the world’s most vulnerable people as leverage.”
Black Sea shutdown could have multiyear impact on Ukraine’s farmers
Ukraine is losing its place as one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat and corn because of warfare, and its role could shrink further with the closure of Black Sea shipping lanes this week, said analysts at the IFPRI think tank. Russia, which has attacked Ukrainian grain ports for three days in a row, declared on Thursday that ship travel was unsafe in parts of the Black Sea.
G7 farm ministers: Expand Ukraine grain exports via the Black Sea
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has had a devastating impact on global food security, said Group of 7 agriculture ministers on Sunday in a communique that called for expansion of Ukrainian grain shipments via a the Black Sea Grain corridor that is exempt from attack.
Are farmers facing the biggest farm collapse in decades?
The lean years following collapse of the agricultural boom in 2013 are "raising concerns that the next few years could bring the biggest wave of farm closures since the 1980s," says the Wall Street Journal in a story headlined, "The next American farm bust is upon us."