Oxfam's Eric Munoz: “We Must Invest in Agriculture Development”
Oxfam Senior Agricultural Policy Advisor Eric Munoz, referring to climate change, stated that the expected declines will not be realized immediately due to the effect of the Grain Shipment Agreement. "We will see that prices will fall much later, especially in developing economies," he said.
Eric Munoz, Senior Agricultural Policy Advisor at Oxfam, said that the Grain Shipment Agreement hosted by Turkey, which will open the world market through Ukrainian ports, is especially important for wheat and oilseeds, and that the price effects will only be seen in the medium term.
Noting that prices will not fall rapidly due to global climate change and similar reasons, Eric Munoz said:
"We are already in a period of very high food prices and record hunger. With the acceleration of climate change, this situation will worsen in grain-producing regions. This is the scenario we could face in 1 to 3 years. Especially in emerging economies, we will see prices fall much later.
We know we need to invest in the development of agriculture. This means research on crops, crop varieties and farming techniques to adapt to current and projected climatic conditions. In particular, there must be investments to meet the needs of women. Women face three times the burden. They do not get paid in the field. I fear that we will see a continuation of what we have witnessed in the last ten months because of the conflicts caused by the ongoing economic uncertainty. We will continue to see high levels of climate disasters, extreme weather events and hunger.
They are not getting the support they need to be productive in the household where they have childcare responsibilities, in the communities where they have social obligations. We need to adapt agriculture to women's needs or provide opportunities and solutions to reduce their burden."