Impacts of the conflict in Ukraine on global food security

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has the potential to exacerbate food insecurity around the world as both countries are a major exporter of grains and other agricultural products. In this model based scenario study, medium-term effects of the war on agricultural production, trade flows, market prices, and food security are quantified. The scenarios focus on the possible consequences of macro-economic and agricultural production impacts in Ukraine, consequences of trade sanction measures against Russia, and related higher energy prices. From a food security perspective, we can conclude that there is enough food on the global level, but higher food prices could become a problem for a part of the population that has a low income and spends a large part of their food on cereals. For some countries highly dependent on imports of Ukrainian and Russian cereals like Egypt, Turkey and Middle East, food availability will come under some pressure. Food security impacts are very minor for the EU, as food availability is not a problem in the EU and in general people spend a small part on cereal-based food products.

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