The war in Ukraine is already affecting food security in Africa and the Middle East.

Rome, March 17 After the invasion of Russia, the impact of the Ukrainian conflict has already affected the Middle East and North Africa region and will continue to spread rapidly, the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), based in Rome, warned today. Rising food prices and crop shortages due to the conflict are already being felt in the Middle East and North Africa and are spreading to some of the most vulnerable countries in the world, including the horns of Africa, where the poorest people are most at risk, the UN agency explained. IFAD said that “a quarter of the world's wheat exports come from Russia and Ukraine,” and “40% of Ukraine's wheat and corn are already struggling with hunger, and millions of people are heading to the Middle East and Africa, where there is a risk of falling into poverty due to food shortages or rising food levels.Price”. In addition, he explained that “Russia is the largest producer of fertilizers in the world, and even before the conflict, food prices rose by about 30% due to the rise in prices last year.” “I am deeply concerned that the violent conflict in Ukraine, which has already become a disaster for those directly involved, is a tragedy for the poorest people in the world who live in rural areas and cannot absorb the rise in prices for basic food products and inputs,” said Gilbert F. “We are already seeing price increases, which can lead to escalation of hunger and poverty, which can have serious consequences for global stability.” For example, he noted that in Somalia, where about 3.8 million people are already not safe for food, the cost of electricity and transportation has skyrocketed due to rising fuel prices. In Egypt, wheat and sunflower oil prices have skyrocketed, and Russia and Ukraine depend on 85% of the supply of wheat and 73% of sunflower oil. In Lebanon, 22% of households do not have access to safe food, and food shortages or additional price increases will exacerbate the already hopeless situation. Although up to 80% of wheat is imported from Russia and Ukraine, the explosion in the port of Beirut in 2020 could save the harvest for about a month at a time.