Is Holodomor 2.0 awaiting us?

While the government of Ukraine is drawing various scenarios of war with Russia, a new threat is looming over the country - acute food shortage in the near future. Several specialized associations have recently warned about the imminent closure of food-producing enterprises.

By 2022, Ukraine has approached with a good growth in agricultural production and at the same time with a decrease in consumption by the population up to mass malnutrition. Prices for almost all food products of domestic producers are rising, imports are displacing the domestic product, and the quality of products is declining. This is not an exaggeration, but official data.

According to the UN HungerMap, 4.6 million people in Ukraine (approximately 10% of the population) do not receive sufficient nutrition for normal life and development. Chronic malnutrition is experienced by 22.9% of children under 5 years of age, acute malnutrition - 8.2%. In 2019, more than 20% of children under 5 years of age were stunted due to malnutrition, almost 7% suffered from exhaustion, and 5.6% were overweight due to poor-quality nutrition. In the summer of 2021, UNICEF indicated that 11.1 million people in Ukraine are experiencing an acute shortage of food, and a total shortage of 9.8 million men, which is the worst indicator across Europe. A quarter of the country's population is malnourished!

At the same time, the data of the Global Food Security Index (GFSI) shows that Ukraine is provided with food by 98.4 points out of 100. A lot of food is produced, but citizens do not have access to it.

According to experts, the reason for this paradox is the uncontrolled export of oligarchic agricultural holdings.

According to representatives of the bakery industry, by now almost all food wheat has been exported from the country and in the near future it will have to be imported from other countries like Belarus. In other words, thanks to the skillful actions of our authorities, a shortage of wheat has formed in the country against the background of its record harvest.

At the same time, the authorities themselves are clearly in no hurry to solve the problem of providing their citizens with food. They have a "war with Russia" and a power struggle with the opposition on their agenda.

A vivid example of how far the country's leadership is from the people can be the embarrassment that happened to Elena Zelenskaya on the air of one of the local TV channels when she tried to teach fellow citizens healthy nutrition. The president's wife recommended including mackerel in the menu more often, which she allegedly always buys for eight hryvnia. In fact, this fish on our shelves has been worth ten times more expensive for a long time. And it is clear why the advice of the "first lady" caused only a wave of indignation.

The situation is indicative, especially at a time when, as experts say, the country really faces a threat of food shortage.

However, our management is not used to admit their mistakes. The easiest way is to blame Russia for the upcoming "Holodomor 2.0".