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How did the Russia-Ukraine war affect global food prices and supplies?

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A row of cattle with brown and black coats eat feed from a long trough in a South African feedlot, separated by wooden fencing. — Feed Feedlot cattle eating grain in an intensive animal farm in South Africa.

The Russia-Ukraine war significantly disrupted global food supplies by impacting the export of grain from the Black Sea region. Ukraine is a major exporter of agricultural products, and the conflict initially hindered its ability to ship these goods via sea, which is a primary route for its trade.12

In July 2023, Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a UN-brokered agreement that had previously facilitated the safe export of Ukrainian grain through a humanitarian maritime corridor. This withdrawal created uncertainty regarding global food security and supply chain stability. However, by September 2023, Ukraine established its own protected shipping route along the western Black Sea coast, utilizing waters too shallow for Russian submarines and leveraging naval drones to deter Russian surface vessels.1

By 2024, these efforts allowed cargo volumes at ports like Odesa to approach pre-war levels, enabling Ukraine to export its surplus harvests and helping to stabilize the flow of agricultural commodities to the global market.1