Europe faces ‘huge migration problem’ sparked by African food shortages as Putin weaponizes food supplies, Davos leaders warn

• Polish president said food shortages could cause huge European migration wave
• Ursula von der Leyen accused Putin of using ‘blackmail’ over food supplies
• The invasion has sent the price of grain, cooking oil, fertiliser and energy soaring

Davos leaders have warned that Europe faces another huge migration wave driven by food shortages in North Africa as a result of Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine.

The Russian leader has been accused of deliberately weaponizing food supplies to cause global chaos, and has been targeting Ukrainian farms and production sites.

Poland’s president Andrzej Duda said at the economic forum: ‘If it turns out that there is hunger in North Africa… both Spain and the whole of southern Europe will have a huge migration problem. 

A warehouse at a farm in southern Ukraine is destroyed after shelling amid huge food global food shortages

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, accused Russia of ‘blackmail’ over food supplies today

‘Today we should focus on Ukraine being able to export its grain.’

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen echoed his comments, accusing Russia of ‘blackmail’.

She said: ‘In Russian-occupied Ukraine, the Kremlin’s army is confiscating grain stocks and machinery (…) And Russian warships in the Black Sea are blockading Ukrainian ships full of wheat and sunflower seeds.’

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – and the West’s attempt to isolate Moscow as punishment – have sent the price of grain, cooking oil, fertiliser and energy soaring.

The Kremlin said on Monday that is was the West that was responsible for the global food crisis by imposing the severest sanctions in modern history on Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Last week, the United Nations warned of a global food crisis that could plunge millions into famine.

The Russian leader has been accused of deliberately weaponizing food supplies to cause global chaos

Ukrainian farm worker Misha stands near a tractor destroyed by a Russian tank shell on May 14, 2022 in Cherkska Lozova, Ukraine. He said that Russian forces had destroyed a grain warehouse and farm equipment while occupying territory outside of Kharkiv

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivered the stark warning at a ministerial meeting in which he declared global hunger levels ‘are at a new high’.

The number of people facing severe food insecurity has doubled in just two years from 135 million before the pandemic to 276 million today, according to Guterres.

The secretary-general also said the number of people living in outright famine conditions has increased by more than 500 per cent since 2016. 

The war in Ukraine has greatly exacerbated a pre-existing problem, as Russia and Ukraine are responsible for producing an incredibly quantity of vital grain and cooking oils, as well as fertilisers used to bolster food production worldwide.  

Guterres confirmed he was engaged in ‘intense contacts’ with Russia and other key countries and is ‘hopeful’ of an agreement to ease the problem, but solemnly announced ‘there is still a long way to go’ before the issues can be resolved.

People queue to receive flour at a food donation spot in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, yesterday

The secretary-general said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 is ‘amplifying and accelerating’ the drivers of food insecurity and global hunger — climate change, Covid-19 and inequality.

The conflict has closed Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, halting food exports to many developing countries which rely on imports of staple foods from abroad.

Guterres said that during a recent visit to Africa’s Sahel region, he met families who did not know where their next meal was coming from.

David Beasley, head of the UN World Food Program, warned that ‘failure to open the ports will be a declaration of war on global food security, resulting in famine and destabilisation of nations as well as mass migration by necessity’.

‘This is not just about Ukraine,’ he said. ‘This is about the poorest of the poor around the world who are on the brink of starvation as we speak. 

‘So I ask (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin, if you have any heart at all, to please open these ports… so that we can feed the poorest of the poor and avert famine, as we’ve done in the past, when nations in this room have stepped up together.’

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