The coming food catastrophe
War is tipping a fragile world towards mass hunger. Fixing that is everyone’s business
By invading ukraine, Vladimir Putin will destroy the lives of people far from the battlefield—and on a scale even he may regret. The war is battering a global food system weakened by covid-19, climate change and an energy shock. Ukraine’s exports of grain and oilseeds have mostly stopped and Russia’s are threatened. Together, the two countries supply 12% of traded calories. Wheat prices, up 53% since the start of the year, jumped a further 6% on May 16th, after India said it would suspend exports because of an alarming heatwave.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “The food catastrophe”
From the May 21st 2022 edition
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