Context

• The ongoing Ukraine-Russia war, which has intensified since it began in February, is leading to food crises in developing countries across the world. The stoppage of food exports from Ukraine has worsened pre-existing conditions.

What countries are being affected and how?

• Somalia is one of the countries facing the implications of the war. The country is facing an unprecedented shortage of wheat stemming from the halted exports from Russia and Ukraine, as the export route through the Black sea has been shut down since the war started.
• According to the UN, the East African country has an estimated 13 million people facing severe hunger resulting from persistent drought.

  

• Other African countries, which also have little say in the ongoing conflict, are affected too. In Egypt, bread is a staple. A meal without bread is not a real meal, and the country relies on imported wheat to meet more than half of its daily wheat and calorie requirements.
• Consequently affecting countries like Tunisia, Somalia, Egypt and Algeria if it is unable to export grain.
• Tunisia is also being ravaged by a financial crisis and struggling to deal with an inflation rate of over 6 percent. Most of its population is meeting their daily needs by relying on subsidised semolina and flour.
• Algeria has completely stopped exports of semolina, pasta and wheat products to prevent depletion of its stocks. The country has some relief through its oil export industry.

Main Shots

• The 2022 Global Report on Food Crises said about 180 million people across 40 countries will face inescapable food insecurity, which can also lead to malnutrition, mass hunger and famine.

Back to Basics

About Ukraine

• A country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country
• It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast; by Belarus to the north; by Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; and by Romania and Moldova to the southwest; with a coastline along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively.
• Kyiv is Ukraine’s capital as well as its largest city.
• It is a founding member of the United Nations, as well as a member of the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization, the OSCE, and is currently in the process of joining the European Union.
• Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine regained its independence, and has since been governed as a unitary republic under a semi-presidential system.
• Shortly after becoming one of the post-Soviet states it declared itself neutral; forming a limited military partnership with Russia and the rest of the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States, while also joining the Partnership for Peace with NATO in 1994.

Reference:

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/ukraine-russia-global-food-shortage-7977490/

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