The war in Ukraine and global food security (WITA) 

WITA (Washington International Trade Association) published a webinar on global food security and how the wear in Ukraine affects it worldwide. The webinar included Senior research fellow Joseph Glauber who spoke on a variety of topics including “Prices are up all over the world and after the Russian invasion prices went up about 20 – 70 percent. They’ve settled down a bit, but all over the world we’re seeing higher prices, particularly in the MENA region. They are importing most of those wheat needs and the majority of it has come out of the Black Sea region.” He added, “2007/08, and 2011 those price spike crises were due to factors like droughts… …This one is different, you’re talking about uncertain factors–how long the war will last, the condition of port facilities, etc. In one sense, it’s like a drought, but does it extend past this harvesting time. There are many unknowns. Inputs are the other thing. If you look across sub-Saharan Africa, there is heavy dependence on the fertilizer that comes out of Belarus (now sanctioned). We haven’t seen as many export restrictions that we’ve seen in the past; we’ll have to monitor that.”