Tribune. The war in Ukraine is leading to a rise in the prices of wheat, maize and vegetable oils, which threatens certain heavily importing countries in the eastern and southern Mediterranean and in sub-Saharan Africa.
In France and in Europe, the agricultural profession and many political leaders allege a nurturing responsibility towards these countries which would require relaunching agricultural production. The world would have changed and environmental and health concerns should be put on hold in the name of global food security.
Heightened threats
This slogan to produce more to feed the world had already reappeared in 2008 and then in 2011 following a spike in cereal prices. However, no more than then, the planet does not lack food today. According to the United Nations, it produces about a third more than its nutritional needs.
The surplus is even higher if we add that almost half of cereal production is used for animal feed, and to a lesser extent to produce biofuels – this while the richest countries over-consume animal products beyond nutritional needs, to the detriment of health and the environment.
However, hunger in the world has been increasing for five years, a change in historic trend after decades of too slow a decrease. The planet has never produced so much per person, but 700 to 800 million people are too poor to access the means to feed themselves or have had to flee climatic or political crises.
The watchword today is that European agricultural production should be increased because the world has changed since the war came to Europe’s doorstep. But the world had already changed before this war. This production, as practiced, exacerbates various threats: biodiversity is collapsing, climate change is accelerating, pollution (fertilizers, pesticides, plastic) is getting worse, nutrition and health are deteriorating.
Flight forward
These threats, once contested to protect the interests of those who contribute to them, are now widely proven and known. By bringing to light Europe’s dependence on imported fossil fuels, the war confirms the absurdity of wanting to relaunch industrial agriculture. Because it is totally dependent on oil and natural gas to manufacture its inputs (pesticides, fertilizers, fuels) which it cannot do without, and imported soybeans for animal feed. The concerns generated by the soaring price of nitrogen fertilizer are there to remind us of this.
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