Lobito – The former member of the European Parliament Durão Barroso said earlier in the week, in the Angolan coastal province of Benguela, that food security as a global public good must be protected by the world's mighty countries, regardless of their geopolitical differences.
The Portuguese politician made the statement while addressing a business forum held by the Angolan Carrinho business group towards its strategic vision for 2030.
Durão Barroso said he agreed with the speaker Graça Machel (former First Lady of South Africa), who argued that food security is a fundamental issue of human rights, underlining that without it, there is no economic, social or cultural development.
For the politician, the first objective is to reach sustainable development to put an end to poverty, followed by the elimination of hunger and secure strong agriculture.
"Today, food security is at risk, first because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has caused a bottleneck in the movement of people and goods, and now because of the war in Ukraine," said the former Prime Minister of Portugal.
Barroso gave an overview of global cereal exports by Russia and Ukraine before the war, saying that they alone accounted for 34 percent of wheat, 27 per cent of barley, 17 percent of corn and 55 percent of sunflower oil, sent essentially to African and Middle Eastern countries.
"The embargo on Russian exports, in terms of natural gas and mineral fertilizers, greatly inflated world markets," he explained.
Barroso pointed out that in March 2022, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Fund (FAO), food prices reached historic highs and are still high, despite being under control.
Based on data from the United Nations, the politician said that in 2021, 2.3 billion people, around 30 per cent of the world's population, were experiencing severe global insecurity.
Recognizing the seriousness of this situation, UN Secretary General Antonio Gueterres warned during a food systems summit in September 2022 that hunger was on the rise again worldwide.
As a result, the three major players in the world economy, namely the United States, China and the European Union, are investing more in their own countries and not in a global vision.
Speaking specifically about Africa, he said that you can't think of development without industries, but agriculture has to be at the centre.
"I can say that support for development is important, but nothing replaces national efforts," Barroso said, adding that Africa development depends on the capacity, intelligence and decision-making of its human resources.
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