Russia’s war in Ukraine disrupts worldwide food prices and supply

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• Judy Woodruff:

  Ukraine's agriculture minister announced today that, in the area — that the area in which the country's spring crop will be planted might shrink by more than half this year, compared with the levels expected before the Russian invasion.

  As a major exporter of wheat, other grains and vegetable oils, this hit to Ukraine's production will affect the global food supply and, experts say, drive up food prices, which were already at all-time highs.

  And, as Stephanie Sy reports, this will only worsen the food security of some of the world's most vulnerable people.

• Stephanie Sy:

  The war in Ukraine is a continent away, but its impacts are ricocheting in this market in Northwest Syria. Prices for food are skyrocketing in Idlib.

• Ibrahim Al-Zeer, Food Seller (through translator):

  We know a lot of necessary food essentials originate in Ukraine, and especially for us. So we definitely feel the impact.

• Stephanie Sy:

  This bakery uses flour made with wheat from Ukraine to bake flatbread, a local staple.

• Qasim Al-Khalid, Baker (through translator):

  There's a shortage, and a chance the wheat will stop coming in if this war continues.

• Stephanie Sy:

  People like Bassam Al-Hussein are worried about being able to feed their families.

  Bassam al-Hussein, Idlib Resident (through translator): I have a family of eight. Bread is really expensive. We used to buy this for 2.5 lira,. Now it's five lira. But if we ate this now, we won't be full. I have kids who will only eat lunch and not eat anything the rest of the day now.

• Stephanie Sy:

  Food prices in Syria were already at record highs last year, and 11 years of civil war have left 60 percent of Syrians food-insecure.

  Syria used to grow enough wheat to feed its population, but the conflict, multiple droughts, and a dire economic situation mean it increasingly relies on international imports, mainly from Russia and also Ukraine.

  The Black Sea region straddling Russia and Ukraine is known as the breadbasket of Europe because of the bounty from its fertile soil. Wheat production is so central to Ukraine's identity, it's reflected on the nation's flag. The colors symbolize blue skies over golden fields of grain.

  But since the Russian invasion, farmers have left those fields for safety or to take up arms. Besides, the government banned exports of staple, crops a wartime measure to attempt to feed Ukrainians, as the conflict disrupts the country's supply lines. Shipping from the region has also been disrupted.

  All of this is putting a squeeze on populations in the world most vulnerable to hunger.

• Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General:

  Even before the conflict, developing countries were struggling to recover from the pandemic, with record inflation, rising interest rates, and looming debt burdens. Their ability to respond has been raised by exponentially increases in the cost of financing. Now their breadbasket is being bombed.

• Stephanie Sy:

  According to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, 18 developing countries, including Yemen, Somalia and Lebanon, import at least half of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine.

  In Lebanon, officials are scrambling to make up for a predicted shortage. A massive explosion at a port in Beirut in 2020 destroyed the Middle Eastern country's main grain silos.

• Amin Salam, Lebanese Economic Minister (through translator):

  Without the presence of silos in Lebanon to store wheat, we import wheat according to our needs. The quantities we have are enough for one month, because it is being stored in mills.

• Michael J. Puma, Columbia University:

  We're really in uncharted territories.

• Stephanie Sy:

  Michael J. Puma is the director of the Center for Climate Systems Research at Columbia University. He says high energy prices and disruptions to exports of fertilizer from Russia and its ally Belarus could also affect the global food supply in coming years.

• Michael J. Puma:

  The countries below the Sahara, sub-Saharan Africa are importing above 70 percent of their potassium fertilizers from just Russia and Belarus.

  So, what are the impacts of not having sufficient fertilizer? Well, you can — you can't get anywhere near the yields that you need to, to feed your population.

• Stephanie Sy:

  International aid agencies are also feeling the pinch.

• David Beasely, Executive Director, World Food Program:

  We get about 50 percent of our wheat and grain from inside Ukraine. Ukraine alone grows enough food to feed 400 million people on planet Earth.

• Stephanie Sy:

  The head of the World Food Program, David Beasley, visited Ukraine last week. He says the U.N. agency now faces higher prices and less supply to carry out its operations around the world and provide aid to Ukrainians in besieged cities.

• David Beasely:

  We have got enough supplies moving right now inside Ukraine and coming into transit in Ukraine to reach about three million people over the next 30 days. I will tell you, it's going to be tough to negotiate with the military forces that are blocking access.

  And we're going to demand that access, because, in my opinion, it's a crime against humanity to see people denied aid when they're just innocent victims of conflict.

• Stephanie Sy:

  Are you having to cut elsewhere in order to feed the refugees coming out of Ukraine and the people in Ukraine?

• David Beasely:

  Yes, yes.

  Let me tell you, before Ukraine hit, we were already short of funds. We were cutting. For example, in Yemen, eight million people, we just cut to 50 percent rations because of lack of funds before Ukraine. In fact, we're looking at having to cut those eight million down to zero rations.

  Don't ask us to choose which children we feed or don't feed, which children live, which children die. That's not fair to us. Let's reach all the children. We can do it. We just need the resources to do it.

• Stephanie Sy:

  Before Russia invaded Ukraine, other conflicts, such as the war in Syria, were already leading to hunger.

  Youssef Al-Jadoa had come to rely on food assistance. Now he's worried that will go away.

• Youssef Al-Jadoa, Internally Displaced Person (through translator):

  When we first arrived, our situation was OK. We had sugar, flour, and food was affordable.

  After the war began in Ukraine, we started getting less sugar and flour. Actually, there is no more sugar at all here now, no more butter, no more olive oil. Our situation is really bad. Did all the NGOs go to Ukraine? Did they forget about us? Please do not forget us.

• Stephanie Sy:

  The spring planting season is meant to start soon in Ukraine, but, with a war in full swing, crops will go unsown and, experts say, hungry mouths around the world unfed.

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Stephanie Sy.

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