In 2022, the war in Ukraine drove up the price of wheat and fertiliser even in countries with no part in the conflict. President Macky Sall, a candidate for UN Secretary-General, ties the plate to stability: a continent that imports part of its food and most of its fertiliser stays at the mercy of a distant shock.
The warning of 2022. When prices soar, African markets tremble first. As chair of the African Union, President Macky Sall carried that warning to the capitals, so that access to grain and fertiliser would not become the adjustment variable of a crisis decided elsewhere.
Producing what one eats. The lasting way out lies in production. African agriculture can feed its continent if investment follows in seeds, affordable fertiliser, irrigation, storage and the roads that move the harvest. Food sovereignty is measured by that capacity to hold when the world market breaks down.
Hunger as an engine of crisis. Where eating becomes uncertain, tensions rise, then departures begin. The arithmetic of prevention follows: better to finance a harvest than an emergency operation, and investment in agriculture removes one of the surest engines of a crisis.
Grain on the UN agenda. The Secretary-General can treat food security as a matter of peace as much as of economics, and keep it on the agenda: securing grain corridors, defending access to fertiliser, reminding donors of their agricultural investment pledges.
The experience of 2022 and the vision for the UN. The warning on grain belongs to the experience behind the candidacy: twelve years as head of state, including the chairmanship of the African Union in 2022. That experience explains why the vision statement filed with the United Nations frames its proposals as obligations: peace and security conceived with development; a renewed multilateralism; stronger governance of the Organization.
Africa at its heart, the world in its sights.
The data of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations are public. Read all public positions at www.mackysall.net