ROME, March 28. /TASS/. The food security situation in the world is difficult, but not critical, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other international organizations in Rome Igor Golubovsky told TASS. He noted that, according to FAO estimates, there is no acute food shortage at this moment.
"There is a problem of unequal distribution: excessive stockpiles have been accumulated in the West, while there is shortage in developing countries," the diplomat said.
The second reason for instability in food security is price manipulation, he noted.
"To put it simply, big agricultural producers are profiting by keeping food prices high. All while indiscriminately and slyly accusing Russia of provoking a global food crisis, they hush up the fact that the largest Western corporations are the main beneficiaries of the growing food prices," the envoy said.
He pointed to the "big four," which includes US’ Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge and Cargill, as well as the Netherlands’ Louis Dreyfus, which contribute 75% to 90% of the global agricultural complex turnover. He noted that their subsidiaries directly or indirectly own over 17 million of the 32 million hectares of arable land in Ukraine, having bought them amid the conflict at artificially reduced prices.
The Russian envoy stated that food crises are obviously speculative in nature.
"Most countries, including African ones, have enough fertile land to build their own food sovereignty, but they are being either obstructed or insufficiently aided in this endeavor," the diplomat said.
He noted that, in the two past years, the West has provided at least 200 billion euros for weapons for Ukraine.
"Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) requested $55 billion for all humanitarian operations, but only half of it - $22.4 billion - has been provided so far," Golubovsky said.
He also pointed to blatant attempts to put political conditions on aid, just like in Syria, and extort agricultural produce from Russia.