Libyan newspaper deplores authorities' inaction on food security crisis triggered by Russia-Ukraine war

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - More than one year after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which caused a food security crisis at the global level, particularly in Third World countries including Libya, the Libyan newspaper "Alsabaah" has deplored the inaction of the country's authorities.

It hit out at the fact that they have not adopted "serious and scientific strategic emergency plans to deal with the consequences of this war, now, or in the medium or long term, and at least at the level of food security, especially since the Libyan state imports more than 95% of its cereal needs from abroad, including 43% from Ukraine.

The Tripoli-based newspaper recalled that the Russian-Ukrainian war had stirred up the ashes, raising food security issues at the international level, especially in third world countries with fragile economies and those dependent on international aid.

It added that Libya was now part of the third world countries, as it was a rentier country par excellence, in which one product, oil, dominates.

Worse still, it has started to receive international aid and risks being caught in the nets of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Under the title: "Moving the ashes of food security", the paper estimated Libya's dependence on importing the needs of Libyan men and women and the needs of "smugglers" to neighbouring countries as well as in terms of all kinds of cereals from abroad, and its inability to establish cereal cultivation on its territory through the optimal use of oil and gas revenues.

This has made it today one of the countries whose inhabitants are again threatened by hunger if the war continues "because you may have the money but you may not find what to buy on the world market".

Alsabaah thus felt that, in light of this reality, the Libyan government must review all accounts and form a real and not nominal emergency commission that includes the ministers of Agriculture, Economy, Water, Environment, Transport and Communications, university professors and researchers specialized in agriculture and crisis management to avoid what could be a disaster due to lack of food and the spread of famine.

The newspaper warned that there was no doubt that "the risks are serious and that the Russian-Ukrainian war, even if it ends at the negotiating table in an agreed truce, could be a prelude to more ferocious and deadly wars".

It urged countries that hold the keys to energy and live on what the sea brings from behind the borders, such as Libya, to come to their senses and invest a significant part of the revenues from the "single product" to ensure food security, build real research centres, modernize the cereal cultivation sector and legislate the cultivation of leaves that deplete groundwater in vain.

The newspaper also pointed out that "reading history (... ) reminds us of the scenes of the lines of migrants around the world, yesterday and today, fleeing their homes and lands because of fear and hunger, a scene that our country (Libya) has experienced in 1911 (Italian colonization), and repeated in 2011 (February 17 revolution), imposes on the authority in power today to take preventive measures to cope with the shock of food shortage as long as it has so far the necessary resources and time to act on clear, simple and achievable strategies".

Quoting the Chinese proverb: "If you give a man a fish, he will eat one day; if you teach him to fish, he will eat forever", the newspaper pointed out that it is all very well for the government to help those on low incomes, pay the subsidy for women and children and standardize wages.

"But what is more beautiful than all this," according to the newspaper, "is that the ruling authority is abandoning the failed policies that all previous governments have perpetuated since independence, based on managing the state budget from oil exports as a fruitless spending programme in a rentier state, and is seeking to develop educational programmes, spend on agricultural and scientific research and revitalize the local seed stocks that have deteriorated to ensure food security for the Libyan people."

-0- PANA BY/IS/SOC/BBA/RA 12Jan2023