Has the war in Ukraine sparked a global food crisis?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 23 June 2022
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Each year, Ukraine exports enough food to feed 400 million people around the world. But the Russian invasion has disrupted vital trade routes, trapping an estimated 25 million tonnes of grain in silos around the port city of Odesa.
The African Union describes the situation as a catastrophic scenario, and the UN Secretary General says the shortages could tip millions of people into food insecurity.
But how reliant is the world on Ukrainian – and Russian – grain? What will a shortfall do to the world’s most vulnerable countries?
On the Inquiry this week, Charmaine Cozier asks, has the war in Ukraine sparked a global food crisis?
Producer: Ravi Naik Researcher: Chris Blake Editor: Tara McDermott Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to The Inquiry. I'm Charmaine Cozier, each week one question for expert witnesses and an answer. |
| 0:12.9 | May 2022, Davos, Switzerland. Top business, political and cultural leaders |
| 0:19.2 | gather at the World Economic Forum to debate solutions for the biggest problems facing the world. |
| 0:24.1 | Three months before, when global food markets were already reeling from relentless economic |
| 0:31.2 | shocks, including extreme price rises, Russia invaded Ukraine. Tons of food destined to feed |
| 0:38.8 | millions of people in other countries can't go anywhere because key export routes from Ukraine |
| 0:44.9 | are blocked. One of the Davos attendees is David Beasley, head of the United Nations World Food |
| 0:51.1 | Programme. He warns that time is running out to prevent a major disaster. If we don't open those |
| 0:57.2 | borders, you're talking about a declaration of war on global food security. It will have |
| 1:01.6 | extraordinary consequences. We are already facing the worst, worst food crisis since World War Two. |
| 1:08.0 | Then he makes another stark prediction. We're going to look at a hellstorm on Earth. |
| 1:14.0 | So this week we're asking, has the war in Ukraine sparked a global food crisis? |
| 1:21.6 | Part One. Getting the grain out of Ukraine. |
| 1:32.4 | Everybody eats bread. Everybody eats, you know, meat of wheat. Everybody eats corn. |
| 1:38.5 | Everybody needs cooking oil, right? So this blockade is hurting people around the world |
| 1:47.1 | on the very basic commodities that they use. Arif Hussein is chief economist for the UN World |
| 1:53.9 | Food Programme. Your grain is kind of like the food basket of the world in a way, particularly for |
| 1:59.7 | Europe. And they produce food for about 400 million people. And they themselves are about 40 |
| 2:07.0 | million. So all of this, the remaining part of this food actually goes out. |
| 2:11.9 | Well, it used to go out to feed millions of people worldwide. Now more than 25 million tons |
| 2:20.8 | of grain is estimated to be stuck in silos around Ukraine's largest seaport in Odessa. |
| 2:26.7 | Some of them have been destroyed. Many are just thrilled to capacity. So this is why it is so |
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