Research findings have been released indicating that the Ukraine war is causing hunger issues thousands of kilometers away from the battlefield.
Researchers from the Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability at Michigan State University utilized satellites to quantify agricultural land loss and analyzed the consolidation among regions, neighboring countries, and distant areas. They released their findings on the 20th (local time), with the results published in the international journal "Communications Earth & Environment" that same day.
Earlier, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations had forecasted that the number of people suffering from malnutrition due to the war would increase by 13 million in 2022. For reference, the reduced winter grain production in Ukraine in 2021 was enough to provide calories for 76 million adults for one year. The nearly three-year-long war in Ukraine, known as a global breadbasket, has led to the destruction of grain cultivation areas and a massive outflow of labor. Furthermore, production and export of key grains, including wheat, barley, and oats, have been halted, shaking the global food supply chain.
According to the research findings, grain production losses in Ukraine have had a more significant impact on countries on the opposite side of the globe. The most affected countries were low-income nations in Africa such as Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as Montenegro, Albania, and Belarus in Europe. These countries lacked the resources to cope with high food prices and supply shortages.
Professor Liu Jianhua of Michigan State University noted, "We were able to confirm the world's interconnectedness, whereby an event in one region induces food insecurity thousands of kilometers away."
Fortunately, major grain-exporting countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia have partially filled the gap left by Ukraine. However, these changes could lead to biodiversity loss due to agricultural land expansion in major exporting countries. Graduate student Jia Nan stated, "This research reveals the hidden vulnerabilities in the global food system and emphasizes the need for international cooperation," adding that "international organizations and policymakers should use this study as a basis to strengthen regional production in vulnerable countries and establish strategies to respond to future crises."
Reference materials
Communications Earth & Environment (2024), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01915-5