Russia’s move, which it followed by bombing the key port city of Odesa and threatening to attack any ship sailing for Ukraine, sent global food prices skyrocketing.
A flash drought in 2012 dried out soil, harming crops in Kansas and several other states.
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If greenhouse gas emissions continue at a high rate, breadbaskets of Europe and North America will see a 50% chance of a flash drought each year by the end of this century.
A third of South Africa’s farming income depends on irrigation. Disruptions in power supply put huge chunks of the country’s agricultural fortunes at risk.
A human fungal zombie from the TV show ‘The Last of Us.’
Liane Hentscher/HBO
Raw flour at the store still contains live microorganisms. And while cooking can kill the fungi, it doesn’t destroy any illness-causing mycotoxins that might be present.
Wine remains among South Africa’s major agricultural exports.
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If China progressively increases production and becomes a consistent net exporter of maize, South Africa would have to explore markets elsewhere.
Harvesting soybeans in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Brazil exports soybeans and uses them domestically to make animal feed and biodiesel.
Paulo Fridman/Corbis via Getty Images
Grain and fertilizer shortages, higher shipping costs and a strong dollar are all pushing food prices up and increasing hunger in dozens of vulnerable countries.
The sourcing of wheat has factored into the political and strategic decisions and security of many countries.
Widespread protests have followed changes in the subsidised price of Baladi bread, a traditional Sudanese flatbread.
Photo by MUJAHED SHARAF AL-DEEN SATI/AFP via Getty Images
Clemens Breisinger, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ; David Laborde Debucquet, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ; Joseph Glauber, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ; Oliver Kiptoo Kirui, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) et Paul Dorosh, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Wheat and bread play a central role for food security and political stability in Sudan.
Viewed from Cairo, the war in Ukraine poses an existential threat to something Egyptians can’t do without: abundant, cheap bread.
Ukrainian wheat is vital to global food chains. But fighting near farmland like around Mykolayiv may prevent seeds from being planted.
Mykola Sosiukin/EyeEm via Getty Images
Ukraine was becoming increasingly linked with the global economy. Russia’s invasion puts its progress at risk.
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly pledged to keep food prices in the fair range amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Photo by Ahmed Gomaa/Xinhua via Getty Images
Kibrom Abay, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ; Clemens Breisinger, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ; David Laborde Debucquet, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ; Joseph Glauber, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) et Lina Alaaeldin Abdelfattah, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Egypt is already feeling the impact of the war, which has led to recent cancellation of tenders due to lack of offers, in particular from Ukraine and Russia.
Wheat accounts for about 20% of human calorie consumption, and Russia and Ukraine are both major exporters. The war could hit household food supplies in countries as far apart as Egypt and Indonesia.
The war in Ukraine will continue to push up food prices as the supply from the ‘Breadbasket of Europe’ is cut in the short term and, possibly, the long term.
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The Russian invasion of Ukraine will have global impacts far beyond the region directly involved in the fighting. Food prices will increase, and the effects will be felt by the most vulnerable.
Supply chains were already in disarray thanks to overcongested ports, as in Los Angeles.
AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes
In the short term, the war is causing energy prices to soar and prompting fears of famine in some countries. In the long term, it could remake the modern global supply chain.