Christiane Lambert: "When France gives up its food, it becomes fragile"

Yanis Darras 9:31 a.m., February 27, 2022, modified at 9:34 a.m., February 27, 2022

After several days of debate, Western countries have adopted new sanctions against Russia in the face of the latter's invasion of Ukraine.

Among the new measures, the countries decided to exclude many Russian banks from the Swift interbank platform, a system for exchanging financial information.

Heavy sanctions, which must impact the Russian economy, but which could have consequences on Western economies, in particular on the energy sectors, but also on agriculture. 

Russian agricultural power

"The direct consequence of the war in Ukraine has been the increase in the price of corn, wheat, sunflowers", warns Christiane Lambert, president of the National Federation of Farmers' Unions (FNSEA).

“What will Putin's reactions be (note: to the sanctions)? The Russian president is unpredictable. Will he stop delivering or deliver less fertilizer and gas? “import a certain number of products which are still imported for Russia”, wonders the president of the first agricultural union in France, who fears an explosion of charges in the coming weeks for farmers. 

Because Russia and Ukraine alone account for 29% of world wheat exports.

"Mr. Poutine has built an efficient agriculture," underlines Christiane Lambert.

And to add: "It should be remembered that after the invasion of Crimea in 2014 and the first sanctions, Russia invested 52 billion dollars in its agriculture. (...) Today to take food sanctions against Russia is totally useless. Putin built the food weapon and today stands up to everyone by saying: 'you can take the food sanctions you want, my population will not go hungry'", explains the president of the FNSEA.

"Ambition of food sovereignty"

Faced with the situation, the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron assured that the State will support farmers, promising a resilience plan and a European shield for the agricultural world.

"Faced with Putin's food weapon, it is obvious that France and Europe must develop the food shield. However, we have not taken the path", worries Christiane Lambert, who points the finger at the "capitulation" of France on certain products.

"We import 60% of our fruit and 40% of our chickens, which come mainly from Ukraine."

"When France gives up its food, it becomes fragile and Europe too", assures the president of the FNSEA.

"The food shield that we must develop is to be able to have sufficient production so that our populations do not fall victim to high inflation, each time there is a conflict somewhere. But for that , it is necessary to display an ambition of sovereignty”, she assures. 

And to add: "When we talk about producing more in France, for some, it's a dirty word. But no, the population is increasing in France, in Europe, in the world. We need production. If we produce less, prices soar more often."