{"id":9869,"date":"2022-04-25T11:03:52","date_gmt":"2022-04-25T08:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/mena\/?p=9869"},"modified":"2022-04-27T16:12:26","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T13:12:26","slug":"the-invasion-of-ukraine-is-supercharging-food-insecurity-in-the-middle-east-and-north-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/mena\/en\/the-invasion-of-ukraine-is-supercharging-food-insecurity-in-the-middle-east-and-north-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"The invasion of Ukraine is supercharging food insecurity in the Middle East and North Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine has exposed the vulnerabilities, corruption and violence behind the energy system<\/a>. It is also accelerating a global food crisis. Some regions are more strongly impacted than others. Like the COVID-19 crisis, this war is affecting agriculture, food production and directly threatening food security. 
Existing inequalities are compounded. In West Africa for example, where livelihoods are already jeopardised by overfishing and destructive fish oil and fishmeal industries<\/a>, hunger has reached record highs<\/a>. In the Middle East and North Africa where I live, a region that includes already-fragile countries like Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, many households are struggling against soaring food prices.<\/p>\n\n

What\u2019s going on<\/h2>\n\n

According to the UN<\/a>, global food prices rose to their highest ever levels in March 2022 as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and food prices are expected to keep rising globally.<\/p>\n\n

Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries depend mainly on Ukraine and\/or Russia for their food imports, particularly wheat and grain. Russia and Ukraine are two of the world\u2019s largest grain exporters. In 2020, Russia accounted for 18.7% of global exports of wheat, while Ukraine accounted for 9.1% over the same period. Forty percent of wheat and maize exports from Ukraine go to the MENA region. <\/p>\n\n

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The ongoing conflict is disrupting the supply chains of cereals and oilseeds, increasing food prices, and is expected to significantly raise domestic production costs in the agricultural sector. Russia and Ukraine comprise over 30% of global trade in wheat, 32% of barley, 17% of maize and over half of sunflower oils, seeds and animal feed.<\/p>\n\n

For example, Lebanon is highly dependent on wheat imports from Ukraine and Russia<\/a> to produce its widely consumed traditional Arabic bread. Customs figures show that in 2020, Lebanon imported 81% of its wheat from Ukraine and 15% from Russia.<\/p>\n\n

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The war in #Ukraine<\/a> is disastrous for the food prices in the #MENA<\/a> region.

Here are the figures \ud83d\udc47 pic.twitter.com\/kxumTjuQM1<\/a><\/p>— WFP in the Middle East & North Africa (@WFP_MENA) April 5, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>