Grain export quotas may negatively impact farming and food security in the distant future, said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Ban Ki-moon said in an interview with the weekly Dzerkalo Tyzhnia. Ukraina, that the introduction of grain export quotas by the Ukrainian government aims to protect Ukrainian consumers from price hikes on food in the world.
Governments bear the main responsibility for guaranteeing their citizens’ food security and they have every right to think about that, he said. Quotas may help prevent domestic price rise on grain, but they may negatively impact farming and food security in a more distance future, especially if a small group of exclusive producers is allowed to control their distribution, the newspaper’s online version, zn.ua, quoted Ban Ki-moon as saying.
The UN system strongly supports small farmers and is campaigning for their ability to make their farms more productive and more resistant to strain, especially to fluctuations of prices on production resources and on food stuffs, he said. Any government policy must be aimed at making farms of all sizes more steady and strain-resistant, and at creating a more transparent and stable climate for state and private investment, the UN secretary general said.
Ukraine, as one of the world’s leading producers and exporters of grain, must play a significant role in strengthening global food security, Ban Ki-moon said.
