Wheat export ban may not affect Indian food supply, but will worsen global crisis: Rajiv Shah of Rockefeller Foundation

Even as the government justifies its position on why it is restricting wheat and sugar exports, global experts are worried that the curbs will stoke inflation in countries which depend on India.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan in Davos, Rajiv Shah, President of Rockefeller Foundation, said India’s decision will worsen the global food crisis.

He said, “In the medium- to long-term, which I define as just the next few years — not decades out, just the next few years — we need to significantly reinvest in domestic agricultural production and resilient supply chains for some many economies.”

He is of the opinion India’s ban of wheat exports will worsen this situation worse through the course of this year. “We need fewer countries to ban exports.  We also need real investment in regenerative agriculture — agriculture that’s less dependent on international inputs and on a sector that is so vital for almost every economy on the planet, but has been under-invested in over the last decade systematically.”