Ukraine and Russia supply significant portions of the world’s agricultural commodities. Potential food-related impacts of the war in Ukraine include social unrest in some places and regressive environmental responses in others. The UN food agency has outlined recommendations on how to react. At a time when Ukrainian farmers normally start spring field work, many have instead been using their tractors to haul away abandoned Russian tanks and troop carriers. And while Ukraine’s winter wheat harvest should be underway in about three months, a bloody, paralysing war has made getting to their crops increasingly treacherous. Fuel and fertilizer have been scarce, and commodities already headed to market are hindered by the same sort of logistical barriers and restrictions impacting Russia’s food exports – which, in addition, are being hit by sanctions.
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