Megan Konar is a scientist and assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois. Her research focuses on the intersection of food, water, and trade. In a recent interview with the Illinois Newsroom, Konar discussed the connection between war and global food security. “Food security is pretty much always exacerbated in times of war. A lot of times we don’t realize that as many people died, for example, in World War II as died in actual conflict. About 20 million people died in conflict in World War II and 20 million people around the world died from hunger, starvation and famine. So war and food security are very tightly related to one another,” she said.
Konar explained to the Illinois Newsroom writer that the current situation in Ukraine is particularly troubling because war has come to a major breadbasket for the world. She said: “Grain production shocks will ripple through the global economy. And this will likely exacerbate food security concerns in nations that are already facing food security challenges, nations that are heavily reliant on Ukrainian and Russian wheat.”
Russia’s invasion on Ukraine could lead to a global food crisis amid the pandemic by disrupting alreadyunstable supply chains.Russia and Ukraine are major food exporters. The two countries produce over 50 percent of the cereal needs for North Africa and the Middle East, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute. Ukraine accounts for 16 percent of global corn exports and 12 percent of wheat exports, according to the US Department of Agriculture. As a key corn supplier for Europe and China, Ukraine produced 42 million tons in 2021.Currently, the war in Ukraine has closed Kiev’s ports and led to a ban on commercial vessels in the Azov Sea, which connects to the Black Sea—one of the world’s most important regions for trade.
From Bloomberg: “Governments around the world are taking steps to safeguard domestic food supplies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roiled trade and sent prices of key staples soaring. Hungary is banning grain exports, its agriculture minister told television channel RTL on Friday. Argentina and Turkey also made moves this week to increase their control over local products. And Moldova, albeit a small shipper, temporarily halted exports of wheat, corn and sugar from this month.”
Indonesia, the world’s biggest exporter of edible oils, announced Wednesday it will tighten its palm oil exports in a sign of growing protectionism around the world as countries grapple with soaring food prices. Indonesia’s move comes as vegetable oil prices keep soaring due to a supply crunch, with palm, soybean oil and canola repeatedly hitting new highs. The Ukraine crisis worsened the situation as the conflict locked out exports from the two countries that ship about 80 percent of sunflower oil and more than 25 percent of global wheat supplies.
In a report titled “The Hunger Virus Multiplies,” anti-poverty organization Oxfam says 11 people die of hunger each minute and that the number of people facing famine-like conditions around the globe has increased six times over the first year of the pandemic in 2020. The death toll from famine outpaces that of Covid-19, which kills around seven people per minute, Oxfam said.
We don’t want the Philippines to be labeled as a “still” country—still impecunious, still helpless, still corrupt, still destitute, still nowhere. We want to see a prosperous Philippines with efficient government and socially progressive environment. We want to see a booming Philippine economy where every Filipino has the opportunity to benefit from it. And the country’s path to prosperity starts with food security.