Food prices soar to record levels on Ukraine war disruptions

April 8, 2022

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ROME –

The Russian war in Ukraine and the subsequent rise of vegetable oil prices led to food commodity prices reaching their highest ever levels. “massive supply disruptions”It is threatening, and causing, hunger and malnourishment in millions of people across Africa, the Middle East, and elsewhere, said the United Nations Friday.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, its Food Price Index (which tracks changes in international prices for a basket commodities) averaged 159.3 point last month. This was 12.6% more than February. The February index, at its current level, was the highest since 1990 when it was created.

FAO claimed that the price of grains rose 17.1% due to the war in Ukraine. This includes wheat and other grains like barley, oats and corn. Russia and Ukraine together account for about 30% and 20%, respectively, of global wheat exports.

It was not surprising, given February’s sharp rise. “this is really remarkable,”Josef Schmidhuber is the deputy director of FAO’s markets and trade division. “Clearly, these very high prices for food require urgent action.”

The largest price increases occurred for vegetable oils. This was due to higher quotes for sunflower oil that can be used for cooking. Russia is No. 2 in sunflower oil exports, while Ukraine is the largest exporter. 2.

“There is, of course, a massive supply disruption, and that massive supply disruption from the Black Sea region has fueled prices for vegetable oil,”Schmidhuber spoke to reporters in Geneva.

He stated that he couldn’t determine how much war was responsible for record food price, but he did note that poor weather conditions in China (USA) and the United States were also blamed for crop worries. But he stated “logistical factors”they played a significant role.

“Essentially, there are no exports through the Black Sea, and exports through the Baltics is practically also coming to an end,”He said.

In countries like the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Asia, rising food prices and disruptions to supply from Russia and Ukraine have caused food shortages.

These nations depend on the availability of affordable wheat and other grains from Black Sea Region to feed millions of people. Now, they face political instability.

Other large grain producers, such as the United States, Canada and France, Australia, and Argentina, are being closely monitored to determine if they can rapidly ramp up production to fill the gaps. However, farmers face rising fuel and fertilizer prices, which is exacerbated by war, drought, and disruptions to supply chains.

The disruptions caused in the Sahel by war have made the already fragile food situation worse in West Africa and Central Africa.

“There is a sharp deterioration of the food and nutrition security in the region,”He told reporters that 6 million children are malnourished, and that nearly 16 million urban residents are at risk for food insecurity.

According to him, farmers were worried about not being able access fertilizers from the Black Sea region. Russia is a major global exporter.

“The cost of fertilizers has increased by almost 30% in many places of this region due to the supply disruption that we see provoked by a crisis in Ukraine,”He said.

He stated that the World Food Program appealed to $777 million for the supply of food to 22 million people in Nigeria and Sahel over six months.

Schmidhuber explained that the FAO was creating a mechanism to lower import costs for countries that import food. To help ease the blow, eligible countries will need to make additional investments in their agricultural productivity.