Due to the importance of Russia and Ukraine’s role in ensuring global food security, this war can have a major impact on the food security for the people in the world, especially for the people in the poorer countries.
According to experts, since Ukraine and Russia supply about 30 percent of the world's wheat and grain, the continuation of the war in the region will increase food prices worldwide.
This will have the greatest negative impact on the world's poor people.
According to a 2021 UN report (https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/food) even before the ongoing war in Ukraine, the outbreak of the coronavirus in the world led to a slowdown in economic growth in most countries so that some 720 to 811 million people in the world in 2020 experiences food scarcity. Experts expect a sharp increase in the number of people the face food scarcity in 2022 globally in the wake of the continuing global recession and the conflict in Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine are the world's largest producers and exporters of wheat, barley, and oilseeds such as sunflower seeds and chemical fertilizers. Due to the large share of the two countries in food production, food security in many parts of the world depends on the imports of food products from these two countries. Many countries in Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East hugely rely on food supplies from Russia and Ukraine which are at war.
Conflicts in the region have disrupted food supplies through imports from Russia and Ukraine in importing countries that already have been suffering from food shortages. And as conflict intensifies, food can become even more scarce. This means the remaining food stocks become increasingly expensive or insufficient.
Currently, the war in the region has made it difficult for Russia and Ukraine to export their products, and in case of continuation of instability and conflicts in the region during the spring planting season, cultivation of these strategic crops will face difficulties that can result in a significant drop in production.
Western sanctions against Russia also could play a role in rising food prices. The sanctions have disrupted Russia's export infrastructure as one of the world's largest exporters of food and chemical fertilizers, and reduced its supply.
Sanctions have also pushed up fuel prices around the world, which in turn has increased the cost of goods transportation.
Many food security experts believe that a combination of different factors caused by the war in Ukraine will reduce the world food supply and increase demand for them. This will increase food prices and spread poverty in the world. Experts also believe that the continuation of rising food prices and the emergence of a food crisis can change the consumption pattern and type of food eaten by many people around the world.
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