Like Russia, Ukraine is a major exporter of wheat. Russia’s war against Ukraine is burdening the global grain markets and has already led to significant price increases there.
The economic adviser to the Ukrainian president, Oleg Ustenko, warns of famine if the war in Ukraine continues. “We have a maximum of one week for sowing. If the war doesn’t end by then, the world will have a food problem,” the economist told Wirtschaftswoche magazine.
“If we can’t deliver, then the price on the international markets will rise,” Ustenko said, according to the newspaper: “The world must decide how it wants to feed people, especially in African countries.” Ustenko called for an immediate embargo Russian oil and gas to deprive Russian President Vladimir Putin of funds for his invasion of Ukraine. Germany and other EU countries have so far rejected this.
The agriculture ministers of the seven leading Western industrial nations (G7) are discussing the effects of the Ukraine war on global food security this Friday. The Ukrainian Minister Roman Leschenko and international organizations are also to take part in the consultation. The G7 group includes Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the USA and Great Britain.
According to the farmers’ association, the war in Ukraine will make food even more expensive. “We assume that this war will cause prices to rise even further,” said the President of the German Farmers’ Association, Joachim Rukwied, to the “Augsburger Allgemeine” (Friday). With fertilizers, for example, there are the first supply bottlenecks, the prices are very high and will probably continue to rise. Rukwied told the daily newspaper “Die Welt” that the food supply in Germany is currently secure. However, there is a great danger that the harvest volumes will decrease due to a lack of fertilizer availability.
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Before the meeting of the G7 agricultural ministers, Rukwied warned of war-related supply bottlenecks. A possible failure of Ukrainian grain deliveries will hit other regions harder than Europe. “The grain supply is secured due to a high level of self-production,” said Rukwied. But there will be bottlenecks in North Africa and Arabia. The EU must provide help here with increased exports.
Ukraine is an important producer of wheat in Europe, but large quantities of wheat are also harvested in individual countries in the EU. However, production in Ukraine can affect prices worldwide. France, for example, produced significantly more wheat than Ukraine in 2020, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Germany almost as much as the Eastern European country.