Mediterranean Ministerial Dialogue on Food Security Meets
Italy will host the first Mediterranean Ministerial Dialogue in Rome today to discuss measures to mitigate the food security crisis provoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Germany, Turkey, and Lebanon will co-chair the event. Discussions will focus on UN policies aimed at lowering the price of raw food materials. Currently, 25 million tons of grain are stuck in Ukraine without export routes, an amount that Ukraine officials claim may triple by the fall.
Turkey has tried to facilitate dialogue between Ukraine and Russia to restore the agricultural exports. Russia recently indicated it would cooperate with Turkey to allow for the removal of mines near Odesa and guarantee passage for ships out of the Black Sea. However, Ukraine remains skeptical of the plan as it has not directly participated in these discussions.
Turkey hopes that the UN will endorse the Russo-Turkish plan, believing this would alleviate security concerns. If talks between Russia and Turkey advance, Italy has already offered to demine Ukrainian ports to unblock food exports.
If no solution is reached, food security experts warned that food prices could soon increase by 20%, and that the world only has 10 weeks of wheat supply left in storage.
Download the Daily Brief app to stay ahead of geopolitics with daily, short, forward-looking analysis of geopolitical events before they hit the headlines.
