Turns out Russia and Ukraine are sort of important if you like eating food Turns out Russia and Ukraine are sort of important in the Famine-Prevention Department. Unless there is a rapid U-turn on the world stage, food prices are going to go up. Way up. And that’s almost the best case scenario. Let’s start with some numbers: Roughly a third of world exports of barley come from Russia and Ukraine combined, 29 per cent of wheat, 19 per cent of maize, as well as 80 per cent of sunflower oil. Much of this is usually shipped through the Black Sea ports of Odesa, or Kherson. Now imagine if a war-sorry, “not-war”-and an endless list of sanctions complicated the export of these agricultural products. Including fertilizers and crop nutrients-which Russia sends to farmers all over the world. As an added bonus, imagine if it becomes more expensive to transport all this Russian and Ukrainian stuff-and everyone else’s stuff-because of soaring fuel prices. https://edwardslavsquat.substack.com/p/up-next-global-food-crisis
