Ukraine war has left at least 345 million people facing food insecurity

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has left the world on the brink of a “triple F” crisis with at least 345 million people facing food insecurity, the World Food Programme has warned.

Matthew Hollingworth, the emergency coordinator for the WFP in Ukraine, said millions of extra people had been left vulnerable as a result of food, fuel and fertiliser shortages and a spike in prices triggered by the war.

“We are extraordinarily concerned for more than 345 million people in the world today who are facing acute levels of food insecurity, partially because of this war in Ukraine, partially because of increasing fuel prices and obviously, because of the ongoing impact of the Covid pandemic on the global economy,” Mr Hollingworth told BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme on Monday.

Global food and fertiliser prices were already spiking before Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24 because of post-coronavirus inflation and supply chain disruptions.

However, Mr Hollingworth said the Russian blockade of Ukraine’s ports, preventing millions of tons of grain from leaving the war-torn country, was a particular concern.

“What is absolutely clear is that a country that fed 400 million people last year with its food exports, no longer able to export food, the Ukraine war is one of our key concerns,” he said.

“We’re facing what we call the triple F crisis - food, fuel and fertiliser.”

“Right now, around the world, there are too many countries, too many communities, too many people, that can’t afford to buy the mainstay of their diet, which is bread,” he added.

Ukraine considered 'breadbasket of Europe'

Ukraine is considered the "breadbasket of Europe", supplying 10 per cent of the world's wheat, 12-17 per cent of its maize and half of its sunflower oil.

Western leaders have accused Mr Putin of waging a war on global food supplies by blockading Ukraine's Black Sea ports, where 96 per cent of its grains are exported from.

Both Russia and Belarus, which are heavily sanctioned by Western governments because of Mr Putin's invasion, are major producers of chemical fertilisers.

Mr Hollingworth warned that because of an international reliance on Russian fertilisers, poorer nations could soon start struggling to produce their own foods.

"Next year, if fertiliser doesn’t reach those countries, their own production will be impacted and will not only have a food access problem. But a food availability problem as well," he said.