At the Food Crisis Conference held by the Presidency's Directorate of Communications and the European Union (EU)-Türkiye Friendship Group in the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels, European experts explored potential remedies and stressed the urgency of resolving structural issues.
SETA Washington DC Research Director Kılıç Buğra Kanat moderated the conference panel titled "Solutions to Food Crisis."
Ryszard Czarnecki, the founder of the EU-Türkiye Friendship Group and a European Parliament member from Poland, delivered the opening remarks at the panel and underlined the need for decision-makers to come together to collaborate and create solutions for maintaining food safety.
Noting that the number of people in urgent need of food has risen to 22 million, Czarnecki urged joint efforts to ensure long-term access to food, particularly for Africa.
Slawomir Marcin Matuszak, a Senior Researcher at the Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova Department of the Poland-based Centre for Eastern Studies, also referred to the grain-carrying vessels' lines, adding, "We must make significant investments in a new style of logistics."
Matuszak stated that the European Union and international financial institutions could play a significant role in this respect.
"Food crisis will trigger migration"
Fenerbahçe University’s Assoc Prof Ece Baban emphasised that the food crisis would trigger irregular migration movements.
Pointing out that this would increase economic and social unrest, Baban said, "Access to nutritional resources will be a new cause of war, and many people will lose their lives in disadvantaged areas."
Baban stated that the grain corridor deal, which was reached thanks to the efforts of Türkiye and the UN, was a significant step toward resolving the food crisis and stressed the importance of addressing the climate, water and energy crises, global warming and migration movements concurrently.
"Fertilisation must be carried out without delay"
Sri Lanka Representative and former EP Member Nirj Deva stated that fertilisation must be carried out without delay for adequate agricultural production, adding that "otherwise only the rich will have access to food."
Deva pointed out that the Western sanctions affecting fertiliser exports would be ineffective in "cornering" Russia since the fertiliser sector occupies an insignificant portion of that country's economy.
Stating that people who could not access food would migrate, Deva argued that the strategy of the West should be re-evaluated.
There are many structural problems
Senior researcher at the UK's Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Samuel Ramani stated that they had reached a dangerous stage where very few concrete solutions could be offered in response to its many challenges.
Ramani urged to work against creating a gap and geopolitical divide between civilisations.
Luca Contrino, Representative of the Assembly of European Regions Producing Fruits, Vegetables, and Ornamental Plants based in France, said there was no single solution and a series of structural issues needed to be addressed.
Contrino, who argues that efforts should be made to find solutions at every stage of the supply chain, from the producer to the distributor and the consumer, said that climate change also closely affects agricultural production and the potential solutions to the food crisis.