The war in Ukraine Is Threatening the breadbasket of Europe (Wired)

Wired published an article about how millions of tons of grain may not make it out of Ukraine this year. The shortfall could spread hunger and civil unrest worldwide. Russia and Ukraine are Europe’s breadbasket. IFPRI estimates that their exports represent 12 percent of all the food calories traded in the world. The two countries account for almost 30 percent of global wheat exports, almost 20 percent of corn exports, and more than 80 percent of the world’s supply of sunflower oil. Those exports are stalled for different reasons—in Ukraine by Russia’s invasion, and in Russia by global sanctions—but the net effect is the same. It’s as if Iowa and Illinois, the heart of US grain production, were ripped off the map. Senior research fellow, Joseph Glauber, wrote on Twitter: “Any changes in CRP (the Conservation Reserve Program) would likely have small impacts on global supplies at least for 2022 wheat. And there are a lot of environmental arguments for maintaining fragile lands in CRP.”