Ukraine: Chronic hunger for 19 million more over next year due to war, UN food agency warns
- The conflict in has fuelled a global food crisis, with surging prices for grains, cooking oils, fuel and fertiliser
- Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global wheat supplies, while Russia is also a key fertiliser exporter and Ukraine a major supplier of corn and sunflower oil
Reduced exports of wheat and other food commodities from Ukraine and Russia risk leaving between 11 million and 19 million more people with chronic hunger over the next year, the United Nations’ food agency said on Friday.
The conflict in Ukraine has fuelled a global food crisis, with surging prices for grains, cooking oils, fuel and fertiliser. Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global wheat supplies, while Russia is also a key fertiliser exporter and Ukraine a major supplier of corn and sunflower oil.
Boubaker BenBelhassen, director of the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) Markets and Trade Division, said the impact of the conflict “could lead to anywhere between 11 to 19 million more hungry people – that is chronic hunger for 2022/23”.
This preliminary estimation was based on reduced exports of food commodities from Ukraine and Russia, he told reporters.
The FAO also said in a report on Thursday that spiralling costs for farm inputs like fertiliser could deter growers from expanding production and worsen food security in poorer countries facing record import bills.