Research and preparation: Khawla Kalachi Researcher in political science and political communication
The green economy is one of the most indispensable sectors; Agriculture does not only contributes to a large share of the world’s economy, it is also one of the most important sectors which meets the world’s growing demand for food. Therefore, countries that depend on agricultural production have a strong economy and can achieve its economic development.
The agricultural sector has been greatly affected in recent years; Climate change, water scarcity, and global warming increase concerns about global food security, therefore creating an urgent need for agricultural producing countries to devise ways to adapt to the dynamic climate change.
Since the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, the world has been facing serious threats regarding food security and the capacity to meet the population’s needs for food. In view of the ongoing war between the world’s two major wheat exporters, The war and the economic sanctions imposed on Russia, have hampered both countries ability to maintain their usual volume of exports of wheat and basic food commodities which has created a major threat to the global food security system.
This situation has created a kind of an ongoing global alert urging numerous countries to increase its agricultural production for the aim to achieve its food self-sufficiency that enables them to prevent any internal tensions that may result from food shortage and high prices.
However, this attitude raises questions about the extent to which countries can promote agricultural production on an exceptional basis with a view to achieving self-sufficiency, and is it such an easy matter?
New production strategy:
Agricultural development is part of economic development. The means of economic development are the same as those used for agricultural development, but they vary according to the sector and its production requirements.
The war has therefore forced many farmers to flee to neighboring countries for their own safety. According to FAO projections, it is expected that between 20 to 30% of Ukraine’s winter crop area will not be harvested. The lack of adequate employment, which the sanctions have imposed likewise on Russia, has encouraged numerous countries to take measures to increase agricultural production. Some of these moves can be highlighted as follows:
Measures to increase agricultural production in some countries
| Irish Government | United States of America | Senegal | European Union |
| A blueprint for expanding crop cultivation | Increased cultivated areas | Raising its agricultural budget | Improving agricultural production |
| Ireland’s government launched a 12 million Euro plan to boost the cultivation of barley, wheat and oats, as a means to compensate the fall in the agricultural production in Ukraine, especially as Ireland largely depends on Ukraine’s crops. However, the scheme was not very well received by many farmers who considered that government incentive payments, which were supposed to be directed to alleviate the high cost of fertilizers and fuel, were in fact very small and insufficient to promote and expand large areas. | The US government is interested in boosting US agricultural productivity[1]. While American farmers are planning to grow record quantities of soybeans, which require relatively less fertilizer, nearly twice the amount wheat farmers intend to plant in 2022, a move that is an experience and awareness. The farmers, however, resorted to concentrating on cultivating crops that do not require fertilizer in large quantities in light of its high prices and shortage of quantities. | To address the cereal shortage caused[2] by the Russian war in Ukraine, the Government of Senegal encourages the production and processing of local crops, such as maize, millet and beans. In this context, the Senegalese Government increased its agriculture budget by 10 billion CFA francs to address the food crisis, as part of its broader support for local smallholders, farmers and bakers throughout Senegal, with the aim of promoting the production of bread made from local varieties such as the Labia. | Given the heavy dependence of the European Union on Ukrainian agricultural crops and the war-affected Ukrainian exports, the bloc’s institutions have adopted a plan aimed at achieving sustainable development, promoting biodiversity and improving the quantity and quality of agricultural production, taking into account the uncompromising of their environmental obligations. This led the European Union to announce that it will reduce pesticide use by 50% by 2030. In this regard, the European Union is working to expand spring crops, such as corn, barley and sunflower seeds despite the local lack of inputs as a result of the bottleneck in the supply chain, which has adversely affected the performance of agricultural operations. |
While security is in the supreme interest of States, its concept has changed from state security in the face of foreign military threats to community security, which includes economic and social dimensions, including economic well-being, social stability, and the preservation of national identity and values, to human security, which focuses on the enjoyment of individual rights.
The concept of national interest suggests[3] that each country applies its power to protect its national interest, and that foreign policy objectives are determined by interests, as recognized by the elite or political leadership, which is what these countries have done taking into account their national interests.
Global challenges:
There are challenges that can impede the ability of some countries to increase agricultural production, the most important of which are:
| Fertilizer shortage and high prices | Varying environments and soil quality | Adverse effects of climatic changes [4] | The world has passed the peak of farmland |
| Fertilizer shortages play a major role in today’s agricultural market disruptions and limit the options for expanding agricultural production for rich countries and for low- and middle-income countries; Sanctions on Russia have restricted fertilizer exports from both Russia and Belarus. While it is important to increase wheat production to meet the expected shortfall in the world market and benefit from high world prices, rich and poor countries have instead resorted to investing in less fertilizer-intensive crops. This hinders any attempts by the Rwandan government and its counterparts to increase their agricultural production and produce enough of their citizens, even though they do not have enough fertilizer. | It should be borne in mind that increasing agricultural production is not just a decision that can be made and successfully implemented in all environments and in all countries; Certain environments and soil types do not encourage the cultivation of certain crops; Rwanda, for example, is a small, mountainous country with an acidic soil; They lack qualified soil suitable for agriculture; That is why the Rwandan government is promoting wheat alternatives that can be produced domestically, such as cassava and sweet potatoes. It should be noted that the areas under cultivation in the arid zones have declined, temperate zones have also declined in recent decades, while agricultural land in many tropical countries has been expanding. | From the above, it is clear that food production is a dilemma that becomes more complex as the world’s population grows, while climate change reduces agricultural production; Climate change poses[5] a major threat to agricultural production; With climate change, weather conditions become highly unfavorable for certain crops. In addition, traditional farming methods pose a serious threat and pressure to global ecosystems; They produce large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, thereby contributing to further climate change. Furthermore, agricultural production consumes large amounts of fresh water which is concerning regarding the amount of fresh water available on Earth. | While it is reported that world agricultural land has peaked, agricultural production in those agricultural areas has not yet reached its peak in many countries worldwide; Land use reached its highest level in the early 2000s and has declined since then, but has experienced a slight recovery in recent years and continues to increase in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South America. This means that if the map of agricultural production is changed, it will not be literally meant to show new areas of agriculture that can be reclaimed or cultivated, thus changing the form of agricultural production in the world. Many countries may be able to boost their productivity according to their climate, soil nature, and potential, which will favor higher agricultural productivity. |
Monopoly dilemma
A monopoly is a situation in which a person, organization, or company has total control over the sale or production[6] of a good or service, with no competitor in the market, so they can control supply and price. This dilemma may cause several manifestations and implications on the market:
Determination of prices by normal flow for the supply and demand rule
Limiting the entry of other enterprises into the market or limiting free competition
Market sharing or supply centers.
Price rises and production levels fall compared to what could have been produced by competitors.
Low quality of products, including the quality of goods and services associated with these goods.
Slow progress in the development and application of new technology, as innovation and development improve product quality and reduce production costs.
Destroying the companies that are expected to succeed in case of competition for quality and price only.
The investment dilemma
Most countries, especially in North Africa, have neither a clear investment policy nor a vision on the economic course in general, due to the continuous implementation of plans and programs that have not been successful for years. As a result, the rates of investment, productivity, employment and exports are still weak and investors are not able to increase their activity despite the fact that the devaluation of the currency in the African countries provided them with opportunities to set up new projects or acquire existing assets and companies.
Ignoring the suffering of investors, especially small investors and those who are far from the attention of the State and the mass media, such as the penetration of bureaucracy and the spread of extortion, threats and exploitation by local bodies and scores of government bodies, impede economic activity and waste the energy and efforts of those who wish to work and produce.
We also note that the majority of States are counting on policies that lead to a further increase in both external and domestic public debt, with all the risks that this holds for future price increases and heavy burdens for future generations.
Pricing dilemma [7]
Agricultural price policy is one of the most important parts of agricultural economic policy and plays a significant role in the performance of the agricultural sector, with pricing strategy affecting both production, consumption and distribution, hence the standard of living.
These are the basic themes of food security, through which the average per capita share of important food commodities, the level of self-sufficiency and the per capita food level can be identified.
In general, the basic pricing strategies are: Custom-based pricing, competition-based pricing, cost-based pricing, and consumer-based pricing.
“We are not going to be in a position[8] to do so,” he said.
Hence, a number of factors are considered during the pricing process:
Production cost, distribution cost, physical level of target segment, economic market condition, trade payment margins and competitive prices.
Accordingly, The problem of pricing today, which is particularly apparent in grain production, is facing a clear imbalance between supply and demand, not so much a shortage of production as a defect in maintaining acceptable living standards and achieving equity in the distribution of national income between the agricultural sector and other sectors, which is in a threatening way To stabilize farmers’ incomes, as a result of the volatility of prices affected by war and global fluctuations.
Aspects of agricultural system development:
Development and improvement of agricultural land productivity and access.
Improvement and delivery of water resources for irrigation.
Development of fodder alternatives “organic feed green barley”, improvement of breeds, development of pastoral areas.
Develop the home economy of small producers and integrate them into the local market, and develop farmers’ abilities to meet the requirements of obtaining quality certificates for their products.
Develop and support models of ” participatory” farmer-private sector partnership.
Development of an agricultural lending organization on a non-traditional basis” facilities from Governments”.
To tailor agricultural production and link it with the needs of the citizens” to achieve self-sufficiency”.
Development of agricultural land infrastructure” Development of production chain infrastructure”.
Enhance the quality of local agricultural and rural products.
Develop and enhance the brand of the unknown product.
Increase the market share of the local biological product.
Promote applied and experimental scientific research.
Building successful and different economic models according to the privacy of the countries.
Training and training of agricultural workers and providing them with the necessary skills in production and post-production.
In short, the Russian-Ukrainian war is of a distinct nature; It is a war between two of the most important forces of agricultural production; That war had therefore had unprecedented consequences for global agriculture and food security; Weeks after it broke out, the features of those consequences began to build up; Exports from Ukraine stopped, and international prices of agricultural commodities rose. This has prompted a few countries to adopt plans to raise their agricultural production, but this is not as easy as it sounds. As the crisis is complex, the paths to its resolution are also complex; Production is no longer the major problem, but pricing; The prices of agricultural inputs have become expensive fertilizers and pesticides; This has become a major challenge for farmers to continue production, given the high price of agricultural inputs, which has a major impact on the consumers ability to buy as food prices rise.
[1] According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics.
[2] Senegal annually imports 650,000 tons of wheat, a large part of which comes from Russian and Ukrainian grain.
[3] The famous sentence of Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, expresses that Britain has no permanent friends or enemies, but permanent interests. As a result, the country’s alliances change according to its interests.
[4]“Shifting to a climate-friendly diet is no longer an aspiration of some. But we still need greater ambition. Our ability to feed the world’s population in the future depends on taking into account the climate. ” Juergen Vogel, vice president for sustainable development at the Bank of Nations.
[5] We know that there is also a growing recognition of the role of the agriculture sector in the overall emissions mix that we must reduce globally to meet the global targets set in Paris. At the twenty-first Conference of the Parties, 113 countries committed themselves to reducing emissions in the agricultural sector under their nationally determined contributions or local climate change action plans.
[6] “monopoly”, dictionary.cambridge.
[7] Adam Smith (1723–1790) rejected the idea of market-based prices, and favored the idea of cost-based prices, according to Smith, which determined the value of trade through (hard and hard) investors in labor costs, as well as the invisible hand (In pursuit of their own interest freely, in a competitive market determined by supply and demand forces, individuals are, directly or indirectly, in the public interest.) Later, the English economist, Alfred Marshall (1842-1924), supported the idea of setting price by supply and demand
[8] “Eric Dolansky,” a Brook co-marketing professor, says: “The amount the customer wants to pay for the product has little to do with the cost and has something to do with how much they value the product or service they are buying.” (University in St. Catharines, Ontario).