Agbiz
The Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa says Russia's invasion of Ukraine would add to already elevated global agricultural commodity prices with potential knock-on effects for global food prices.
Agbiz chief economist, Wandile Sihlobo, says both countries play a major role in the global agricultural market, and African leaders must pay attention to the situation.
He says there is significant agricultural trade between African countries and Russia and Ukraine.
Sihlobo says African countries imported about 48% of their wheat and 31% of their maize worth $4 billion from Russia in 2020, while Ukraine exported $2.9 billion worth of agricultural products to Africa in 2020.
Egypt accounted for nearly half of the imports, followed by Sudan, Nigeria, Tanzania, Algeria, Kenya, and South Africa.
Sihlobo said Russia and Ukraine are substantial players in the global commodities market, with Russia producing about 10% of global wheat while Ukraine accounts for 4%.
Agri Eastern Cape says the Russian invasion of Ukraine will have a devastating effect on agricultural commodities.
Speaking to Algoa FM News, Agri EC President, Peter Cloete, said the conflict in the region would have a ripple effect on a global scale.
"I can promise you that what's going on in Ukraine at the moment is going to have a ripple effect through every single commodity in the world, from fresh fruit to wheat and iron-ore. Some of it wil be playing into the hands of some producers in this country and some is going to hurt big time, depending on what industry you are in," he said.
Justin Chadwick of the Citrus Grower's Association of South Africa says they export about 10 percent of the citrus harvest to Russia.
"That's a sizeable amount. It will be a big concern if we can't get the fruit there. Most of our fruit to Russia goes on Baltic shipping, it's the biggest line into Russia. We just don't know what is going to happen in terms of their ships being able to dock and refuel around the world," Chadwick said.
He added that there are no direct citrus exports to Ukraine.
