Ukraine Crisis Monitoring: Analysis of Food Crisis Risks and Policy Responsiveness
Direct links
The Food Security Portal gratefully acknowledges the European Commission (EC) and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) of the Government of the United Kingdom for their financial support of the Ukraine crisis monitoring.
The crisis in Ukraine threatens global food security at a time when global food markets are already struggling with soaring prices, supply-chain disruptions, and a bumpy recovery from the pandemic. Ukraine and the Russian Federation account for more than 30% of global wheat exports, provide around 12 percent of the globally traded supply of food energy in kilo calories, and are breadbaskets to many food import-dependent developing countries in the Middle East, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, Russia is a major producer of fertilizer. Any serious disruption of production and exports from these suppliers will drive up prices further and erode food security for millions of people. If governments respond with export restrictions in an effort to keep domestic food prices in check, the impact on food security will be even higher.
In this context, monitoring the impact of the crisis on food security is key. To that end, this page provides several tools to monitor the situation. Here you can monitor production and stocks, track food export restrictions, check food price volatility, and access resources such as the AMIS Market Monitor.
The AMIS Market Monitor March 2023
With no end in sight to the war in Ukraine and threats of further escalation, uncertainty continues to hang over agricultural markets. Supplies are tight. Reduced plantings in Ukraine mean that other countries will need to produce additional grains and oilseeds to help rebuild global stocks and moderate price levels. The world has so far been relatively fortunate: a combination of good weather and strong producer supply response has kept market prices from rebounding back to the high levels of early 2022. However, tight stocks will mean increased price volatility, particularly during periods of uncertainty such as planting times and the Northern Hemisphere growing seasons. In addition, uncertainty over events like the renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative will continue to roil markets.
Vulnerability analysis on wheat and fertilizer trade dependence
The vulnerability analysis tool includes short-term assessments of (expected) global impacts through trade and production bottlenecks in wheat and fertilizer markets caused by the crisis and trade and policy responses and identification of “hot spots” of countries with the highest exposure and country-specific vulnerability assessment of 5 countries (Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, West Africa and Latin America).
Food and Fertilizer Export Restrictions Tracker
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to expose global food security to high uncertainty, exacerbating already soaring food prices stemming from COVID-19-induced supply disruptions and drought-reduced yields. As seen in past global food price crises, some countries have begun restricting food trade with the objective of controlling domestic food inflation. These restrictions can have dire unintended consequences for vulnerable people in food-importing countries, increasing prices and exacerbating food insecurity.
Fertilizer Market Dashboard
The war in Ukraine is sending fertilizer prices soaring, intensifying fears of reduced global food production and higher food prices. Prices for all main fertilizers have spiked in view of sanctions against and export restrictions by Russia, the world's largest fertilizer producer. Prices for natural gas, a key input for fertilizer production, are up as well, resulting in higher costs for fertilizer producers and reduced output - further affecting global supplies.
Production and Stocks Monitoring System
The stock-to-use ratio is an important indicator of the vulnerability of world food markets to shocks. The ratio represents the level of carryover stock of a given commodity as a percentage of the total use of that commodity.
Excessive Food Price Variability Early Warning System
The Excessive Food Price Variability Early Warning System is a tool of the Food Security Portal that identifies periods of excessive price variability (i.e. price variability that exceeds a pre-established threshold), and it is updated on a daily basis to identify days that are within periods of high, moderate, and low price variability.