In a Facebook post, Balázs Orbán, the political director of the prime minister, expressed his thoughts regarding the threatening food shortage and, in parallel, the increasing migration pressure.
"The reasons for the increase in food prices are complex, but the role of the war in Ukraine is indisputable. Globally, food prices reached an all-time high in March, as Ukraine is one of the world's largest producers of grain, sunflower oil, corn and fertilizer. Production will be affected by the conflict this year and next as well. Projections show that demand will outstrip supply until at least 2024, and the process could put basic foods out of reach for the poorest.
The impact of the war is far-reaching: the conflict cut off Africa from its two main sources of grain, as 14 countries depend on Russia and Ukraine for half of their wheat. Western sanctions only make the situation worse, as they make it impossible in many cases for countries on the continent to buy grain from Russia. As a result, a humanitarian crisis of unimaginable proportions may develop, which only increases the wave of immigration from Africa.
The worsening economic and political instability has already encouraged many to leave their country and head for Europe:
150 percent more people are arriving on the Balkan migration route, Hungarian border guards have caught 1,123 people smugglers so far this year, twice as many as in the same period of the previous year , and Hungary arrested more than 150,000 border violators, which represents an increase of more than 90% compared to the 2021 data!
That is why we are interested in restoring peace as soon as possible, since this is the only way to avoid another migration crisis!"
2022 plus:
Not only the lack of wheat, but also the decline in rice production increases the problem. The lack of rainfall in the rice-growing areas in India, the heavy rains experienced during the harvest in Vietnam, the heat wave in China, and the floods in Bangladesh set back the harvest and significantly worsened the quality. The mentioned countries are among the world's largest rice producers.
What else is coming? There is war, drought, floods - God really doesn't like something about the way the world works.
Source: Facebook/Balázs Orbán
(Credit Image: Getty Images )
