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. 2022 Jul 14;11(14):2098.
doi: 10.3390/foods11142098.

The Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Its Implications for the Global Food Supply Chains

Sandeep Jagtap  1 , Hana Trollman  2 , Frank Trollman  3 , Guillermo Garcia-Garcia  4 , Carlos Parra-López  4 , Linh Duong  5 , Wayne Martindale  6 , Paulo E S Munekata  7 , Jose M Lorenzo  7   8 , Ammar Hdaifeh  9 , Abdo Hassoun  10   11 , Konstantinos Salonitis  1 , Mohamed Afy-Shararah  1
Affiliations

The Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Its Implications for the Global Food Supply Chains

Sandeep Jagtap et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Food is one of the most traded goods, and the conflict in Ukraine, one of the European breadbaskets, has triggered a significant additional disruption in the global food supply chains after the COVID-19 impact. The disruption to food output, supply chains, availability, and affordability could have a long-standing impact. As a result, the availability and supply of a wide range of food raw materials and finished food products are under threat, and global markets have seen recent increases in food prices. Furthermore, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has adversely affected food supply chains, with significant effects on production, sourcing, manufacturing, processing, logistics, and significant shifts in demand between nations reliant on imports from Ukraine. This paper aims to analyze the impacts of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine on the effectiveness and responsiveness of the global food supply chains. A PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) approach, including grey literature, was deployed to investigate six key areas of the food supply chains that would be impacted most due to the ongoing war. Findings include solutions and strategies to mitigate supply chain impacts such as alternative food raw materials, suppliers and supply chain partners supported by technological innovations to ensure food safety and quality in warlike situations.

Keywords: Russia; Ukraine; conflict; consumer; food logistics; food processing; food production; food quality; food storage; food supply chain; war.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Impacts of Russia-Ukraine conflict on the food supply chain.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The VCI for March 2021 (a) and March 2022 (b). The scale for the VCI is shown to demonstrate differences between VCI for each planting season in the Ukrainian Oblasts (regions). Data from UNFAO, analysis developed using MapInfo 10.0.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The March 2022 VCI and proportion of maize, sunflowers, and wheat produced in each Oblast (region) (a) and March 2022 VCI and proportion of barley, rapeseed, soybean, and millet produced in each Oblast (b). The maximum proportion of crop produced is 13% of the total and each bar is relative to this 13% maximum. Data from UNFAO and USDA FAS, analysis developed using MapInfo 10.0.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Main regional production areas of wheat, maize, and sunflower, ports at Azov and Black Seas, and maritime routes for Ukrainian agricultural production. Information adapted from International Grains Council [1,2].
Figure 5
Figure 5
Global producers of wheat (a), maize (b), sunflower seed (c) in 2020, and sunflower oil (d) in 2019. Data adapted from FAOSTAT [21].
Figure 6
Figure 6
Average global (a) and European (b) prices for commercialization of wheat and maize during January-March 2022. Data adapted from the Cereal statistic webpage of the European Commission [40].
Figure 7
Figure 7
Ukrainian wheat exports by destination in 2021 [52].
Figure 8
Figure 8
Meat consumption in Ukraine in 2020. The per capita figures are 26 kg for poultry, 19 kg for pork, 8 kg for beef and veal, and 1 kg for other meats [73].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Grants and funding

Thanks to GAIN (Axencia Galega de Innovación) for supporting this publication (grant number IN607A2019/01). P.E.S.M. acknowledges postdoctoral fellowship support from the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN, Spain) “Juan de la Cierva” program (IJC2020-043358-I). G.G.-G. acknowledges the Grant ‘Juan de la Cierva Incorporación’ funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 by “ESF Investing in your future”.