Food prices throughout the world have reached new highs as a result of the Ukraine conflict, according to the FAO.

Export disruptions as a result of the February 24 invasion and international sanctions against Russia have sparked fears of a worldwide food catastrophe.
 

Image: cfr.org

PARIS: The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization said on Friday that world food prices touched an all-time high in March as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which sent "shocks" through markets for basic grains and vegetable oils.
 
Fears of a worldwide food crisis have been sparked by the interruption in export flows caused by the February 24 invasion and international sanctions against Russia, particularly in the Middle East and Africa, where the knock-on consequences are already being seen.
 
 
Russia and Ukraine, whose enormous grain-growing regions are among the world's primary breadbaskets, export a large portion of the world's wheat, vegetable oil, and corn, among other commodities.
 
"As hostilities in the Black Sea area extended shocks through markets for staple cereals and vegetable oils, world food commodity prices jumped significantly in March to reach their highest levels ever," the FAO said in a statement.
 
The FAO's food price index, which had already set a new high in February, jumped 12.6 percent in March, "making a tremendous leap to a new highest level since its start in 1990," according to the UN agency.
 
In March, the index, which is a measure of the monthly change in international food prices, averaged 159.3 points.
 
According to the FAO, prices for vegetable oils, cereals, and meats have reached new all-time highs, while sugar and dairy goods have "substantially increased."
 
According to the FAO, Russia and Ukraine accounted for roughly 30% and 20% of world wheat and maize exports, respectively, over the last three years.
 
As the planting season begins in Ukraine, the battle continues to rage.
 
Wheat prices increased by about 20%, worsened by fears about harvest conditions in the United States, according to the group.
 
Higher quotes for sunflower seed oil, of which Ukraine is the world's biggest exporter, boosted the FAO's vegetable oil price index by 23.2 percent.
 
Sunflower oil has been rationed in Spanish stores to prevent people from hoarding owing to scarcity worries caused by the conflict.
 
President Vladimir Putin of Russia has been accused by the US of causing "this worldwide food catastrophe."
 
France has warned that the war has heightened the prospect of global hunger.
 
Oil and gas prices have soared as a result of the conflict, driving inflation to surge even higher throughout the world and creating worries that it might derail global economic development.