Policy Brief - The Russia-Ukraine War and Food Security in Morocco

Policy Brief The Russia-Ukraine War and Food Security in Morocco By A bdelaaziz Ait Ali, Uri Dadush, Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub & Isabelle Tsakok PB - 34/22 Following on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic and severe drought in North Africa, the Russian invasion of Ukraine – large exporters of food and, in the case of Russia, energy— may inflict increased hunger on the food insecure in Morocco – despit. [...] In line with the latest IMF forecast, a rough calculation of the macroeconomic impact of the war suggests that the average income of Moroccans may turn out to be about the same or a little lower in 2022 than in 2021 instead of about 2% higher as forecast by the IMF before the war. [...] Forecasts are based over the price increases and the depreciation of the Dirham against the dollar in the first quarter of 2022. [...] The Policy Center for the New South (PCNS) is a Moroccan think tank tasked with the mission of contributing to the improvement of international, economic and social public policies that challenge Morocco and Africa as integral parts of the Global South. [...] The PCNS advocates the concept of an open, responsible and proactive « new South »; a South that defines its own narratives, as well as the mental maps around the Mediterranean and South Atlantic basins, within the framework of an open relationship with the rest of the world.