Moroccan wheat, the solution for Africa after the Ukrainian conflict

The war in Ukraine is having quite negative consequences globally. One of the continents that is suffering the most from this scarcity of resources is Africa, which normally depends on almost all world exports to supply the territory. In addition to the rising price of Russian oil and gas due to the international blockade of the country, there is also the problem of wheat. Ukraine and Russia together account for more than 29 per cent of global wheat exports to Africa, making it a major headache.

A new study by the Policy Center for the New South, a platform that uses the opinion of political and economic experts to propose ideas and reforms in Morocco, has confirmed that Moroccan wheat could be the key to solving this crisis on the African continent. 

The Kingdom is Africa's third largest importer of the grain, behind only Ukraine and Russia. The Moroccan media reveal that thanks to the decision to diversify wheat supply last year, Morocco now plays an important role and the text reveals that it represents a new response to the problem.

In 2021, due to good weather conditions during the sowing and harvesting of this foodstuff, Morocco decided to reduce its imports. Initially, 4.5 million tonnes were to be distributed globally, but thanks to the diversification of this product and the distribution of only 0.7 million tonnes, Africa has a large concentration of the most precious cereal in the world at the moment.

The North African nation's suppliers last year were Ukraine with 25% of imports, Russia with 11%, France with 40% and Canada, which, according to the study, accounted for almost all imports of durum wheat.  

And it was not only the North African nation that was right to make this decision. Algeria and Nigeria are the second and third largest African exporters of durum wheat to the continent. The study also reveals that both Morocco and these two nations import more than 17 million tonnes of wheat combined.

Algeria, as the second largest importer, has also opted to diversify its wheat supply. Last year, it decided to import 7.7 million tonnes of wheat, plus the 3.6 million tonnes it produced itself, although this was reduced because Algeria did not have the best harvests or the best sowing, as weather conditions were not optimal and, therefore, its imports were considerably reduced. 

Nigeria, for its part, took the same decision as its predecessors. Policy Center for the New South confirms that the nation obtained a total of 5.5 million tonnes of imports. Of these, one million tonnes came from the European Union, 0.8 million tonnes from Russia, 0.7 million tonnes from Canada and 0.6 million tonnes from the United States.

The wheat shortage situation is proving to be a major inconvenience for most nations. It is one of the staple foods in most countries' diets and its scarcity is creating a problem. The UN has already warned of global shortages due to the Russian invasion, which threatens the world's food security.

Since the war began, prices have risen to historic levels never seen before and many countries have already entered the red alert level. Regions such as Canada, the United States and Argentina, some of the largest producers of this cereal, are already warning that reserves are becoming limited and that they cannot cope with world demand.

Russia and Ukraine alone represent the first and fifth largest growers of barley and together account for 19% of the world's barley exports, 14% of wheat and 4% of maize. The war is adding pressure and many countries are being affected. Some, such as Egypt and Turkey, buy more than 60% of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine.