MED-Amin network

Egypt’s wheat imports rose by more than a million metric tons in 2023, data seen by Reuters shows, with traders citing a dip in global prices from highs reached after Russia invaded Ukraine.
One of the world’s top wheat importers, Egypt uses the grain it buys for heavily subsidised bread available to more than two thirds of the North African nation’s 105 million population, Reuters reports.

After Russia said on Monday it would end the Black Sea Grain Initiative – a deal to provide safe export routes for about 20 per cent of the world’s grain – governments have been trying to assess the impact on world hunger.
Ukraine, sometimes called the breadbasket of Europe, is a major producer of sunflower oil, wheat and maize, but when Russia invaded in February 2022, turning much of the agriculturally rich east of the country into a warzone, wheat prices were hit hardest amid a general surge in global food prices.

Cairo halted tenders after the steep rise in prices that followed the outbreak of war in Europe, but since June it has locked in new large quantities that also show which countries are filling the gap left by Ukraine.

The state looked to local farmers for nearly double what they would in other years.

When Russia launched its offensive on Ukraine in February, the Egyptian government perceived an immediate danger to about two-thirds of its population. 

The European Commission has approved a €30 million Malta government scheme to support companies in the importation, wholesale and manufacture of grain products impacted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 
The scheme, ‘MDB Subsidised Loan Scheme’, was approved under the State aid Temporar

Egypt has breathed new life into an old agricultural project in its Western Desert, hoping it will increase food production and reduce imports. Egypt is reawakening a decades-old agricultural project in its Western Desert as it endeavors to feed its growing population and bridge a wide gap between food production and consumption in it.

Lebanese bakers build projects to ensure food security as crisis-hit Lebanon increases food imports.

As the deepening economic crisis continues, the soaring prices of basic necessities like bread have pushed many Lebanese below the poverty line.

With Lebanon’s bakers relying on imported wheat to produce their goods, the cost of even the heavily subsidised traditional flatbread – eaten by rich and poor alike with most meals – has tripled since 2019.

One aspect of our country as an island nation that seemingly continues to go unnoticed, but is of paramount critical importance, is its dependency on imported food and other essentials.
Currently, Malta imports approximately 80% of its food requirements, both fresh and frozen. With its limited shelf life, fresh produce demands swift delivery, which places a significant spotlight on the robustness of Malta’s supply chain. So, what is the current status of this supply chain, and what risks does it face?

Senegalese eaters consume an astounding 8 million baguettes per day. In 2022, Senegal imported more than 800,000 tons of wheat to meet demand. The country has imported most of its wheat from Russia in recent years, and the Russian war against Ukraine has made wheat and other commodity crop prices uncertain. But there is a growing movement to incorporate local, traditional crops into breadmaking to help reduce Senegal’s reliance on imports—and promote food sovereignty for West Africa.

Expecting Ukraine war-induced wheat supply problems, Egypt is experimenting with using sweet potatoes in bread, amid hopes that the new measure will significantly reduce wheat imports.

At an agricultural storage complex in the Egyptian city of Banha, Ahmed Nasser watches truck after truck offload freshly-threshed grain from the surrounding Nile Delta. Cut off from much of the Black Sea wheat it depended on by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Egypt, often the world's biggest importer, is straining to extract whatever it can from a local harvest, now in full flow.

DUBAI: When Russian tanks trundled into Ukraine on Feb. 24, alarm bells started ringing in places even far away from the war zone. It transpired that many countries depended heavily on the two warring parties for their wheat supplies, with Arab states of the Middle East and North Africa region figuring prominently on the list. Which is partly why, for the governments of Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, and Sudan, as well as international aid agencies, the conflict has felt much closer to home than the geographical distance suggests.

Tanya Nasr grew up with the taste of her grandmother's tangy pomegranate molasses but had never made it herself until Lebanon's economic crisis and COVID-19 took her back to her home village in the mountains.