AMN/ WEB DESK
WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said that a food crisis kicked off by the Ukraine conflict could last for years without intervention. He added that African countries could be hit especially hard by wheat and fertilizer shortages.
Ms. Okonjo-Iweala said wheat prices had risen 59 percent compared to last year, sunflower oil was up 30 percent, while maize was 23 percent higher. Ukraine is a major global exporter of wheat and sunflower oil.
Because of gridlock due mines along the coast, huge quantity of wheat is stuck in Ukraine while global grain prices spiral upwards.
The United Nations is trying to establish a grain corridor with a Turkish naval escort for tankers leaving Odessa and other Ukrainian ports. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said, Ukraine needs to clear mines from its Black Sea ports.