Rwanda
By: Ellie Howard
The current Russo-Ukrainian war pertains to the country of Rwanda in two ways. First, is the historical parallels that can easily be drawn between the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 and Russia’s recent ‘annexation’ of Ukraine. In the Rwandan Genocide, members of the ethnic majority of Rwanda, the Hutus, murdered around 800,000 people whom were mainly of the Tutsi minority. At the time, the US and the rest of the international community stood by and basically did nothing. The New Yorker writer, Philip Gourevitch, attributes this to a number of reasons that ultimately point to racism. In both cases—Rwanda and Ukraine—a powerful entity is threatening their sovereignty through violence. The main difference being the geopolitical location of the two wars. While Rwanda is a small country in Africa with no particular international threat, Ukraine is sandwiched between Russia and NATO with nuclear weapons being threatened. So even with the similarities, Ukraine is getting much more publicity and support that Rwanda did, despite rather similar humanitarian crises occurring. Second is the more direct effects the war in Ukraine is having on Rwanda’s economy. The war has caused an international rise in prices of food and energy. With over 60% of Rwanda’s wheat imports are typically from Russia, Rwanda is being forced to look for other trading partners which is costly and has strained Rwanda’s economy. Already fragile from 3.4% contraction the economy suffered in 2020 due to the pandemic, the war is certainly not helping.
Kagina, A. (2022, April 7). IMF speaks out on impact of Russia-Ukraine war on Rwanda. The New Times. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/imf-speaks-out-impact-russia-ukraine-war-rwanda
Martinez, A. (2022, April 22). As the war in Ukraine continues, a look back at the 1994 Rwandan genocide. NPR. Retrieved October 6, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/2022/04/22/1093977726/as-the-war-in-ukraine-continues-a-look-back-at-the-1994-rwandan-genocide
Madagascar
By: Jayden Smith
The Russo-Ukrainian war, despite having no effect on the physical geography of Madagascar, has had an effect similar to what you would find in most developing African nations, economic effects that prove to be detrimental to the stability of access to majorly important agricultural goods, and fuel in the region. Although Russia is by no means Madagascar’s largest trade partner, the large reductions in economic cooperation between the two countries resulting from the conflict, will most likely be damning for an already struggling population, with the now banned wheat exports from Russia having accounted for nearly 86.7 percent of all imports from Russia to Madagascar. The likely incoming reduction in free access to wheat will only serve to harm the nearly 2 million citizens of the island nation already facing food insecurity. It’s pre war food insecurity may have also partially resulted from alleged Russian interference in their 2018 elections cycle that served to worsen the already unstable political environment of the island. Not only has its political stability served as a detriment to its ability to produce its own crop consistently each year, but also its location, which leaves the island susceptible to a multitude of natural disasters. According to The OWP it is estimated that a total of 47.3% of the population under 5 in Madagascar is facing food insecurity.
Russia (RUS) and Madagascar (MDG) trade. OEC. (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-country/rus/partner/mdg
Madagascar (MDG) and Russia (RUS) trade. OEC. (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-country/mdg/partner/rus
Huang, H. (2015, November 2). Food insecurity in Madagascar. The Organization for World Peace. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://theowp.org/food-insecurity-madagascar/
Ethiopia
By: Augie Alvarado
Around the world, prices of commodities and imported goods have risen extremely. The Russo-Ukrainian war is one of the main reasons for the jump in prices within the global market. In developing countries like Ethiopia that are responsible for high rates of imported petroleum products, the Russo-Ukrainian war has made it difficult to maintain a normal economy. Other key import groups that are being directly affected by the Russo-Ukrainian war are wheat, edible oil, and metal. According to the International Growth Center, the Russian and Ukrainian imports Ethiopia relies on is twice the monetary value of the country’s exports. This means that without the proper amount of imports, the country’s economy is being strained. Russia is the world’s biggest producer and exporter of nitrogen-based fertilizer and a large supplier of potassium and phosphate. These products are heavily relied upon by Ethiopia as they are used to produce different types of agriculture and provide enough food to the country’s 1.2 million population. Ethiopia has also been in the midst of a regional war and has only recently started to escape the grasp of COVID-19. The transportation industry within Ethiopia has taken a massive hit as petroleum prices rise. An article done by the International Growth Center titled Impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on Ethiopia outlines how a large percentage of rich, urban households would experience a near 27% reduction in income. This is to do with the income distribution the country has been seeing since the development of the war in Ukraine. Another side of this development is that poor, rural households will be hit the hardest due to lack of savings and a lesser chance of adapting to rising prices throughout all markets. If one thing is for sure, Ethiopia does not stand to benefit as the Russo-Ukrainian war continues.
Tamru, Seneshaw, and Tewodros Makonnen Gebrewolde. “Impact of the Russia-Ukraine War on Ethiopia.” IGC, 7 Aug. 2022, https://www.theigc.org/blog/impact-of-the-russia-ukraine-war-on-ethiopia/#:~:text=Impact%20of%20the%20Russia-Ukraine%20war%20on%20Ethiopia%20The,and%20economic%20growth%20for%20developing%20countries%2C%20including%20Ethiopia.
South Sudan
By: Marianne Hatley
South Sudan and Russia have had an allied relationship between the two countries. Previously, Russia recognized South Sudan as an independent country. South Sudan had planned to create a Russian embassy in their country. Russia also had plans to create a South Sudanese embassy in their country. Russia was also pursuing economic ties with South Sudan. With the recent war between Russia and Ukraine, the financial aid that would usually go towards international food supplies has been redirected to aid Ukraine in its war. Due to these budget cuts, an estimate of 2 million South Sudanese citizens are expected to suffer from food insecurity. Along with this, there will be an influx in bread and grain prices which are imported to the country from Ukraine. With gas prices rising, South Sudan will not be able to afford transportation for food. For the food supply that they do have, the prices have skyrocketed. The WFP, an international food aid service, used to give rations to these South Sudenese people, now with the war absorbing all this aid, these rations are becoming more scarce. According to an article by CBS News, “the aid agency used to provide people with 2,100 calories per day in the rations, but Shaikh told Patta, ‘in most of the locations now, we are forced to give only half of that.’ The WFP has been forced to slash not only the size of its rations, but the number of people it can provide them to in the country. The agency has suspended aid to 1.7 million of the 6.2 million people it had been feeding in South Sudan.” Although this conflict is a war on Ukraine, people in developing nations, including millions of children, will suffer the most.
“How Russia’s War in Ukraine Is Starving Kids to Death 3,000 Miles Away.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-ukraine-war-food-emergency-2022-cbs-news-south-sudan-famine/.
Kenya
By: Elena Perriera
For this week’s blog I’m talking about how the Russian and Ukrainian war has affected the country of Kenya. The war has affected quite a few Eastern African countries cursing trading and selling issues between the countries. Kenya has been doing trade with Ukraine through the years for a while now. Kenya gets a lot of imported goods from Ukraine some of these include tea, coffee, cut flowers, vegetables, sunflower oil and corn. Because of the war Kenya has been really short on most of these supplies. They have even asked their citizens to buy from local farms because they cant get it from their main provider. Kenya has asked their citizens to use these materials sparingly because they don’t know when they will be able to trade with Ukraine again and they have not found a country that can fill that gap yet. Kenya is also having trouble using payment and some banks because of companies and people staying away because of the sections. As of now it doesn’t seem like Kenya has a plan on what to do next but they are dealing and looking into trades with Russia even though Kenya and Ukraine had mutual liking of each other. Things will have to change in the future for Kenya.
Kiptoo, E. (2022, July 18). What does the Ukraine-Russia War mean for Kenya? Southern Voice. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://southernvoice.org/what-does-the-ukraine-russia-war-mean-for-kenya/