{"id":13364,"date":"2022-04-26T04:08:58","date_gmt":"2022-04-26T11:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=13364"},"modified":"2022-04-28T04:16:32","modified_gmt":"2022-04-28T11:16:32","slug":"how-russias-war-in-ukraine-upended-the-breadbasket-of-europe-financial-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=13364","title":{"rendered":"“How Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine upended the breadbasket of Europe”, Financial Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

By John Reed in Kyiv, Emiko Terazono, Alexandra Heal, Sam Joiner, Dan Clark in London and Sam Learner in New York, April 26, 2022<\/p>\n

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Ukraine has long been a land of natural bounty, not just for its own population but also for people around the world<\/a>. Products made from its wheat, corn and sunflowers can be found in markets and kitchens from Estonia to Egypt. Its black soil is richly fertile. Its farmland is cheaper to run than that in Europe and the US. And its deep seaports have given it easy access to international markets. The combination has allowed Ukraine to become a key exporter of agricultural commodities, and to be described as the breadbasket of Europe.<\/p>\n

Now the basket has been overturned. \u201cThe farmers, the agriculture workers went to war and continue to fight in the war, and some of their vehicles went to the war,\u201d says the Ukrainian agriculture minister, Mykola Solsky.<\/p>\n

With swaths of farmland turning into battlefields and Ukraine\u2019s road and port infrastructure being attacked by Russian missiles and bombs, the country\u2019s food supply chain has seized up. \u201cThere are limitations on working hours because of curfews, and there are limits on the movement of agricultural equipment because of controls on the roads,\u201d Solsky says.<\/p>\n

The damage to Ukraine\u2019s road network and food distribution infrastructure has made getting food to areas suddenly hosting millions of internally displaced people difficult. The World Food Programme estimates that 45 per cent of the population is worried about finding enough to eat.<\/p>\n

But the war has also left a global supply gap<\/a>. Ukraine accounts for 8 per cent of global wheat exports, 13 per cent of corn flows, and more than one third of the sunflower oil trade. Normally the country exports 40mn to 50mn tonnes of cereals every year, but Russia\u2019s invasion has meant export volumes in March were a quarter of those in February, according to the agriculture ministry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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The agriculture sector sits at the heart of Ukraine\u2019s economy. In some southern oblasts, areas that have witnessed some of the war\u2019s most intense fighting, 80 per cent of land was under active cultivation<\/span> in 2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In total, 57 per cent of the land in Ukraine<\/span> was used for growing crops in 2019 \u2014 making it one of the most highly-cultivated countries in the world. By comparison, in the same year the US actively used 17 per cent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The goods grown in Ukraine make up a sizeable share of global agricultural production. The country accounts for 30 per cent of the world\u2019s supply of sunflower oil, widely used in both industrial and domestic food production, and grows 4 per cent of the world\u2019s wheat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Some countries are particularly reliant on Ukraine for crucial food supplies. In Libya<\/span>, for example, 44 per cent of the wheat supply used domestically came from Ukraine in 2018.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In India<\/span>, 77 per cent of the domestic supply of sunflower oil came from Ukraine in 2019. In China, it was 63 per cent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Ukraine supplied 43 per cent of the corn used in the UK<\/span> in 2019, much of it to feed livestock.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In the same year, China<\/span> relied on Ukraine for 16 per cent of its domestic supply of barley, another key animal feed ingredient.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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The war has caused food prices to rise<\/a> sharply around the world \u2014 threatening a sharp increase in people going hungry. \u201cThe cost is devastating, and it has consequences which are going way beyond the borders of Ukraine,\u201d says Arif Husain, chief economist at the World Food Programme, which provides aid to countries suffering from food poverty.<\/p>\n

The disruption in food supplies comes at a time when the world is already struggling with the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The last time the world faced a food and fuel crisis, in 2007-08, many developing countries that depended on food imports faced social unrest.<\/p>\n

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The soaring cost of livestock feed, fertiliser and fuel is also having an impact on farmers<\/a>\u00a0around the world. The invasion threatens “not only [countries\u2019] food supplies\u201d, says Beth Bechdol, deputy director general of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, \u201cbut also their own agricultural production systems\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\"a<\/p>\n

Sowing seeds under fire: the perils of farming in a war zone<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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When Gordiychuk and his crew returned to his Kyiv farm in early April, after Ukrainian troops routed the Russians out of the capital\u2019s satellite towns, they found a projectile that appeared to be part of a Russian rocket sticking out of the soil.<\/p>\n

Russian troops had also shelled Gordiychuk\u2019s farm in Chernihiv and stolen equipment including computers, security cameras, tools and a brand-new generator. On the last day of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, a rocket hit dry grass on the ground and started a fire, which villagers managed to douse.<\/p>\n

The damage illustrates the enormous challenge of getting Ukrainian agriculture back in operation while the conflict continues. Before the invasion, Ukrlandfarming \u2014 one of Ukraine\u2019s biggest food producers \u2014 had nearly 300,000 laying hens at its egg facility in Makariv, west of Kyiv.<\/p>\n

Rocket and mortar shelling in the area cut power supply to the farm. While many staff scattered to safety, the farm\u2019s manager, Oleksandr Komarov, and a skeleton staff hooked up a single diesel generator to keep ventilation and climate control running. Ukrainian troops recaptured the area in late March. But the liberation came too late for the chickens, which died from a lack of feed. The farm is now out of commission. \u201cWe don\u2019t even know where our people are,\u201d says Komarov. \u201cMany were running away from the war, from this nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Dead chickens cover the floor at Ukrlandfarming\u2019s egg facility in the western suburb of Makariv \u00a9 Serhii Korovayny for the Financial Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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In areas where fighting continues, returning to farm work is perilous. Farmers wear bulletproof vests and helmets driving tractors in wide open fields, becoming potential targets for air strikes. \u201cThe problem you\u2019ve got is that you don\u2019t really want to be in a tractor with all the lights switched on in the middle of a field in the middle of a war zone,\u201d says Mike Lee, an agronomist and consultant on Ukraine farming. \u201cAt this moment, driving trucks in the fields is absolutely terrifying.\u201d<\/p>\n

All this comes at a crucial time of year for the country\u2019s agriculture industry. The winter wheat, planted in October and November, needs to be fertilised for the harvest in June and July. Spring crops, including corn, barley and sunflowers, must be planted during April.<\/p>\n

The physical danger to farm workers from military activity is just one of several factors behind the FAO\u2019s estimate that between 20 and 30 per cent of the areas producing these crops will either remain unharvested or not be planted this spring.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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The war\u2019s dangers and demands on manpower aside, many farmers are struggling to find more basic things key to working a farm. Prior to the war, Russia and Belarus accounted for the bulk of Ukraine’s fuel imports, and several depots around the country have been targeted by Russian airstrikes.<\/p>\n

With Putin\u2019s naval forces blockading Odesa, Mariupol and other ports on the Black Sea, Ukraine has been forced to rely on rail and road for imports. The Ukrainian government says its farmers report only having 20 per cent of the required fuel for operating at usual capacity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\"a<\/p>\n

Bottlenecks at the border: export routes cut off by war<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Just as the sea blockades are preventing fuel getting in, they are stopping goods getting out. For example, about 15mn tonnes, or about 40 per cent, of Ukraine\u2019s corn harvest remains in grain silos, according to Michael Magdovitz, an agriculture analyst at financial services company Rabobank.<\/p>\n

\u201cFarmers can’t sell their grain that they put aside from last year and get money for their business,\u201d says Solsky, the agriculture minister. \u201cPrior to the war, we could export more than 5mn tonnes of agricultural products through the Black Sea ports per month. But today, it is impossible due to the current situation. Our exports have almost stopped. At present, the capacity to supply abroad has fallen to 0.5mn tonnes of grain per month.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\"Komodor<\/picture>
The Komodor logistics park near Makariv, Ukraine, lies in ruins after being bombed during the Russian invasion on April 19, 2022 \u00a9 John Moore for Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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By targeting Ukraine\u2019s entire agricultural economy, destroying fields, farm equipment, warehouses, roads, bridges and ports, Russia intends to cut off a big source of Ukraine\u2019s income, says Caitlin Welsh, director at the Centre for Strategic & International Studies\u2019 global food security programme.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian officials have also accused Russia of using food as a weapon of war, a historically resonant claim in a country that lost millions to famines induced by the Soviet Union in the 1930s. During Russia’s assaults on some Ukrainian cities, most notably the port of Mariupol, food ran short after Russian troops blocked essential goods from going into them. Lyudmila Denisova, the Ukrainian human rights ombudsman, recently said that Russians \u201cwant to repeat the famine not only in Ukraine, but to cause famine in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n

Moscow has also signalled its readiness to use food as a strategic tool internationally. Russia is the world\u2019s largest exporter of wheat and Dmitry Medvedev, former president, called food its \u201csilent weapon\u201d. Now deputy chair of Russia\u2019s Security Council, Medvedev said Russia would not export agricultural goods \u201cto our enemies\u201d on the Telegram messaging app earlier this month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Before Russia\u2019s invasion, Ukraine exported 90 per cent of its agricultural products through ports<\/span> on the Black sea.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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However, intense fighting and Russian territorial gains<\/span>in the south-east have blocked access to these crucial sea routes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Delta Wilmar Ukraine, a company that runs a sunflower oil processing plant near Odesa, previously sent most of its finished products out directly on ships from the port. With sea routes<\/span> blocked, Delta now has to rearrange its logistics, sending goods on to rail or Danube river barges.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cNormally we ship to Europe, Asia, and worldwide,\u201d says Shamil Khakirov, Delta’s commercial manager of the plant. \u201cNow we only have Europe, as we don\u2019t have access to the sea \u2014 and our land infrastructure was not ready.\u201d Kernel, Ukraine\u2019s biggest sunflower producer, says there is little chance of it exporting even 30 per cent of its pre-war volumes.<\/p>\n

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