The imposition of sanctions against Russia has serious consequences for grain supplies to the poorest countries in Africa; the humanitarian situation there has worsened, the UN Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, Elena Dovgan, said in an interview with Sputnik.
"Unilateral coercive measures severely fragment the global food market and also affect developing countries," Dovgan said.
She explained: "The introduction of unilateral sanctions against Russia has had a serious impact on the ability to supply grain to the poorest countries in Africa, contributing to the deterioration of the already difficult humanitarian situation in these states. The adoption of unilateral coercive measures has a strong impact on food security in the states against which such measures are taken."
According to her, unilateral sanctions also impede access to fertilizers, vaccines for livestock, and seeds, "which also seriously undermines food security."
"Preliminary results of the monitoring show that the imposition of unilateral sanctions leads to a serious increase in consumer food price inflation for the vast majority of sanctioned countries ... Another humanitarian indicator that was significantly affected by the adoption of unilateral coercive measures were the indicators of food price anomalies in Afghanistan, Croatia, Montenegro, Zimbabwe, China, Mali, Nicaragua, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus and Iran," the UN expert noted.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that it is the West that is responsible for the destruction of global food security, despite accusations from Washington about Russia's alleged responsibility in this matter.