With waning impact of Covid that disturbed everyone in some way or the other for the past two years, people hoped that 2022 will be the year when things will get back on track. However, the year threw new challenges in people’s way.
The Russia-Ukraine war which began on 24th of February 2022 disrupted the global supply chain and as a result inflation hit the ceiling and families all around the world faced food security issues. While the Russia-Ukraine war caused global food crisis, something that no one anticipated, adverse weather conditions in different parts of the world further aggravated the issue and added to the woes.
While global consumption exceeded global food production during the year 2020 and 2021 due to covid pandemic, experts state that this year the trend is going to remain the same owing to Russia-Ukraine crisis and unfavorable climatic conditions that has disrupted production and have caused supply chain issues.
Russia-Ukraine War And Its Effect On Global Food Situation
Russia started its invasion of Ukraine on 24th of February 2022 and that was the beginning of the food crisis of millions of people of the world. Owing to the war between Russia and Ukraine, the shipments of food grains got stuck at different ports leading to food shortages across the world. This led to shortage of food commodities across the world which drove inflation to an all-time high and caused troubles for millions of people across the globe.
Even after the signing of the Black-Sea Grain Initiative which allowed Ukraine to start sending its food grains to the world, the food situation remains grim. While it certainly has eased the food shortage a bit, there still remains a huge gap between supply and demand which have and is a cause of concern for policymakers across the world.
Adverse Weather Conditions Have Further Aggravated The Food Security Issue
From United States to France and China, poor weather has led to low grain harvests in major agricultural regions and have further added to the grain issue.
While a severe drought led to low harvest in Europe this year and is threating the plantations in South America as well, low rainfall in key rice-producing states of India, forced the country to impose restrictions on export of rice to ensure sufficient grains at home.
Owing to dicey and adverse weather conditions all across the globe, the key producing nations who intended to bridge the gap between supply and demand could not do much to address the food security issue.
Conclusion
While the war in Ukraine disrupted global supply chain and raised alarms for food security around the world, people expected things to ease up with resumption in shipments of grains from Ukraine post Black Sea Grain Initiative. However, adverse weather conditions like drought and dry weather in different parts of the world have further aggravated the food issue and owing to these the total grain stocks today are at a worrisome state. If statistics are to be believed, the total grain stocks are nearing towards a decade low. After 2012, the year which witnessed food riots, this is the first time that the world is facing a food crisis of this sort.
To stay updated about agro-related news across the world, do follow Tradologie.com
