FAO The Value Of The Red Sea Crisis Will Cause An Increase In Food Prices

Illustration of ships in the Red Sea. (Wikimedia Commons/IDS.photos)

JAKARTA - The Houthi blockade on waterways in the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Red Sea has had a negative impact on global food trade, causing prices to rise, Oleg Kobyakov, director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Liaison Office with Russia.

"The Bab-el-Mandab Strait and the Red Sea Blocks by the Houthis have a negative impact on global food trading. The cost of chartering ships to travel through this route has almost quadrupled, while cargo traffic has fallen by 30 percent," he said in an interview with TASS, as quoted March 5.

The FAO official further said the world's largest shipping company refused to send goods through the Red Sea.

"This has disrupted the existing supply chain. The cargo owner was forced to use a rotating route, sending ships around Tanjung Harapan to travel between Asia and Europe," he explained.

"This route is 8,000 kilometers longer and takes 10-14 days longer, as well as costs to buy additional fuel to increase expenses by an average of 15 percent," he explained.

"As a consequence, food prices increase. This results in food inflation and reduced affordability of food products for end consumers," he said.

Kobyakov kemudian menyampaikan pandangan yang diberikan oleh Kepala Ekonom FAO Maximo Torero di Forum Global untuk Pangan dan Agricultural di Berlin pada Bulan Januari.

"There is an increased risk in the Red Sea, a risk in the Black Sea, and a risk we can face due to the downturn of the surface of the water. In the Panama Canal, which is the main waterway for us to move goods around the world."

The Houthi militant group said it would attack Israeli territory and prevent ships affiliated with the country from crossing the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait until operations in the Palestinian enclave ended, following the Hamas-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip.

The Houthis have attacked dozens of civilian ships in the Red Sea and Aden Bay since mid-November. That led the United States and its allies to take countermeasures and precautions, including by attacking the group's base in Yemen.