Food security: for Oxfam France, the European Union forgets vulnerable countries

European flags in front of the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels (illustrative image).

AFP - JOHN THYS

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

Before the presentation this Wednesday of the European Union's "roadmap" on Europe's agri-food strategy, the European Commission submitted, on Monday 21 March, several proposals to deal with the consequences of the war in Ukraine on agricultural markets.

But for Oxfam France, this does not solve the problem of the most vulnerable countries, particularly in Africa.

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The consequences of the war in Ukraine are already being felt in the agricultural world, with a surge in the prices of raw materials such as wheat, soybeans, rapeseed and corn, but also fertilizers and oil.

To try to soften the blow, the European Commission has put forward several proposals for Europe's agri-food strategy, which revolve around the idea of ​​freeing up funds for farmers and producing more to gain greater food independence vis-à-vis -with regard to cereal markets in particular.

There is a medium-term challenge of ensuring the capacity of the most vulnerable countries to obtain supplies

The reaction of Guillaume Compans of Oxfam France to the Commission's proposals

Anne Verdaguer

For Guillaume Compans, agriculture and food security campaign manager at Oxfam France, considers that this is not the priority: " 

the highest priority from our point of view is above all to top up, for example, calls for funding from the World Food Program [WFP] for East Africa or the Sahel region which are facing food crises which will be accentuated by the repercussions of the situation in Ukraine.

Then, indeed, there is a medium-term issue of ensuring the capacity of the most vulnerable countries to obtain supplies

 ”. 

► 

To listen: Agriculture in the EU: "

There is no problem of food availability at European level

"

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  • European Union

  • Food

  • Humanitarian

  • Ukraine