The French Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Agriculture discussed, on Tuesday 5 April, the implementation of the Food & Agriculture Resilience Mission (FARM) initiative for food security in the most vulnerable countries.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced the launch of this international initiative on 24 March, in conjunction with partners from the European Union, the G7 and the African Union (see EUROPE 12918/5).
The FARM initiative aims to avoid the “disastrous effects on global food security of the Russian-led war in Ukraine”, according to a statement from the two ministries on Tuesday. This conflict has dramatic consequences in many vulnerable countries on price levels, production, access and supply of cereals, especially wheat.
This initiative is based on three pillars:
- a trade pillar to ease tensions on agricultural markets, ensure full transparency of flows as well as stocks and fight against unjustified trade barriers;
- a ‘solidarity’ pillar to support Ukrainian agricultural capacity, ensure access to reasonably priced agricultural commodities in the most affected countries, and prepare for the effects of the war on agricultural production levels;
- a ‘production’ pillar to build agricultural capacity in a sustainable way in the countries most concerned.
Due to the war, Ukraine is not able to export its reserves of wheat and other cereals that it produces. Above all, “we must anticipate the risk that Ukraine will not be able to harvest this year and sow and harvest this summer”, according to a French source.
Ukraine is the world’s fourth largest exporter of wheat and maize. It supplies more than half of the world’s sunflower oil.
“This initiative will require funding. But it is not the only lever. It is also a lever for redirecting the quantities produced. It will also be necessary to provide for market surveillance, with the possibility of redirecting certain quantities to where they are most needed”, explains this source.
The US and all G7 partners support the initiative. Yet it “will only achieve its full effect if key G20 countries such as India and China are brought on board”, according to Paris.
Egypt imports 60% of its cereals from Ukraine or Russia, Tunisia 60% and Lebanon 89%.
On Wednesday 6 April, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, told the European Parliament that the EU must take action to ensure food safety. For him, the situation of developing countries, “especially in our neighbourhood”, should be taken into account.
“I am thinking of the African continent in particular, which will suffer, is already suffering and will suffer even more. This must mobilise us, and that is the meaning of this proposal by the French Presidency, the FARM plan, to activate a series of measures, not only financial support, but also measures to facilitate import and export arrangements”, said Mr Michel.
Finally, France mentioned an initiative launched at the EU-AU summit in February aimed at stimulating collaboration between Europeans and Africans on the development of plant proteins, “so that the significant increase in protein needs of Africans (particularly for chicken feed) can be met through local production rather than through imports from the other side of the world”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)