2022–2023 global food crises

During 2022 and 2023 there were food crises in several regions as indicated by risingfood prices. In 2022, the world experienced significant food price inflation along with majorfood shortagesin several regions.Sub-Saharan Africa,Iran,Sri Lanka,SudanandIraqwere most affected.Prices ofwheat,maize,oil seeds, bread, pasta, flour, cooking oil, sugar, egg, chickpea and meat increased.Many factors have contributed to the ongoing world food crisis. These include supply chain disruptions due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the2021–2023 global energy crisis, theRussian invasion of Ukraine, andfloodsandheatwavesduring 2021 (which destroyed key American and European crops).Droughts were also a factor; in early 2022, some areas ofSpainandPortugallost 60–80% of their crops due to widespread drought.
Even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, food prices were already at a record high. 82 million East Africans and 42 million West Africans faced acute food insecurity in 2021.By the end of 2022, more than 8 million Somalis were in need of food assistance.In February 2022, theFood and Agriculture Organization(FAO) reported a 20% rise in food prices since February 2021.The war further pushed this increase to 40% in March 2022 but was reduced to 18% by January 2023.But the FAO warns that inflation of food prices will continue in many countries.
Increased fuel and transport prices have made food distribution worse and more complex. Before the Russian invasion, Ukraine was the fourth-largest exporter of corn and wheat. Since then, the Russian invasion crippled supplies. This has resulted in inflation and scarcity of these commodities in dependent countries.Global food reserves have also decreased due to theeffects of climate change on agriculture.
This causedfood riotsandfaminein different countries.Furthermore, China acquired 51% of the world supply of wheat, 60% of rice, and 69% of corn stockpiles in the first half of 2022.The United States increased its farm production by April 2022, also contributing $215 million in development assistance plus $320 million for the Horn of Africa.Agrain agreementwas signed byRussia, Ukraine,Turkeyand the United Nations to open Ukrainian ports.This resulted in grain shipment by 27 vessels from Ukraine between June and August 2022 which stalled in October and then resumed in November 2022.In addition, theWorld Bankannounced a new $12 billion fund to address the food crises.
The World Economic Forum'sGlobal Risks Report2023 described food supply crises as an ongoing global risk.The Russian invasion of Ukraine and crop failures from climate change worsened worldwidehungerandmalnutrition.EvenGlobal Northcountries known for stable food supplies have been impacted.Analysts described this inflation as the worst since the2007–2008 world food price crisis.However, in early 2024, the FAO reported a return to more moderate commodities market prices.Moreover, theWorld Economic Forum's 2024Global Risks Reportshowed significantly less concern from experts but the report still highlights a risk of theIsrael–Hamas warand the return ofEl Niño.Both of these events could disrupt supply chains again.
Rises in food prices have affected parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Protests andfood riotshave occurred in more severely affected countries such asIran,Sri Lanka,Sudan,andIraq.There have also been riots and other forms of unrest due to food prices rising inAlbania,Kenya,Indonesia,Peru,Ecuador,Panama,Argentina,Tunisia, andLebanon.
Price increases for certain staples, such as wheat, were expected to most severely affect countries likeEgypt,Turkey, andSomaliainMENAandEast Africa, which rely heavily on wheat imports from Ukraine and Russia.This is expected to further hurt prices in regional food markets, such asEthiopia,Kenya, Somalia, andSouth Sudan.
The changes in the food market caused by the invasion of Ukraine further exacerbated existing drought problems in the already vulnerableHorn of Africa.In February, theWorld Food Programme(WFP) andUNICEFhad already projected nutrition and hunger gaps for thirteen million people in East Africa.By March, the UN had expanded that number to 20 million people.
The United Nations reported that 90% of the country's population lives inpoverty, and that more than half isfood insecure.
Oxfam, ALIMA andSave the Childrenwarned that the food crises inWest Africacould affect 27 million people, especially inBurkina Faso,Niger,Chad,Mali, andNigeria.
During a May 2022 visit to Nigeria, theSecretary-General of the United Nationssaid the war in Ukraine has made the food, energy, and economic crises worse in Africa as a whole.
On 2 June 2022, Chad declared a national food emergency.
Northern Kenya experienced the worst drought in 40 years that left 4.4 million people acutely food insecure, with 1.2 million facing emergency hunger levels.The U.N. Development Program said rising food and energy prices caused by COVID-19 and the Russian war in Ukraine hit Sub-Saharan Africa hardest. Kenyan chapati makers are shrinking the size of their dough balls to make ends meet.
The main cause of thefamine in Yemenis the ongoingYemeni Civil War. Aid often cannot effectively reach the population because of theblockade of Yemen by Saudi Arabiawhich started in 2015.17.4 million do not have enough food and malnutrition levels in Yemen are among the highest in the world.
By May 2022, wheat prices in Tunisia had risen to over $430 per tonne, more than double the cost from 2021 due to supply interruptions caused by theCOVID-19 pandemicandRussia's invasion of Ukraine. Tunisia imports over 95% of the soft wheat used in its bread, increasing its purchases by $250 million in 2022.
International Monetary Fund(IMF) forecasted Consumer Price Index (CPI) inBangladeshto rise to 5.9% by the year 2022. The price of cooking oil, sugar, eggs and chickpeas increased sharply, which contributed a great deal to the inflation. According to theBangladesh Bureau of Statistics, general inflation climbed to 6.17% by February 2022. Government officials link local prices to the global market situation and necessary steps taken to stabilize price hikes due to these conditions. But some experts point to government failures as a cause of the price hikes, in addition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Before the invasion of Ukraine, 95% of the cooking oil in Bangladesh was imported from overseas. The price of cooking oil per barrel was $700 then, it went up to $1,940 prior to the invasion. The price ofliquified petroleum gas(LPG) also increased 12% by March.Overall gouging of food prices resulted inlargescale protestsin the country.
Following theTaliban takeoverof 2021, Western nations cut much of their humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. This led to a lack of access to food, water, shelter, and health care for much of the Afghani population.The Biden administrationfrozeabout $9 billion of the Afghan central bank's assets, which blocked the Taliban from having access to funds held in US bank accounts.In October 2021, the UN stated that more than half of Afghanistan's 39 million people faced an acute food shortage.
The price increases connected to  Russia's invasion of Ukraine may worsen the economic crises in Afghanistan that followed theUS withdrawal.According to the UN, $4.4bn is needed to pay for increased food costs,with human rights experts calling on the US to unblock assets of the Afghan central bank to ease humanitarian crisis.
Six out of every 10 Indians are dependent on state-delivered subsidised food. Though early reporting and government policy after the price increases following the war in Ukraine for wheat suggested India was well positioned to export more wheat, by end of April a heatwave that is projected to decrease harvests, increasing local prices, and fertilizer price increases projected a shortfall rather than an export-friendly market.The decrease in harvests was largely driven by the2022 Indian heat wavewhich is expected to severely reduce the wheat harvest, killing the plants during the final weeks where they are usually growing.
On 13 May 2022, India, the world's second largestproducer of wheat,prohibited wheat exports.IMFchiefKristalina Georgievaurged India to reconsider its ban on wheat exports.
On 20 July 2023, India's government announced that it would stop exporting the widely consumed non-basmatiwhite rice.On 25 August 2023, India imposed a 20 percent duty on exports ofparboiled rice.
Agricultural fieldsin Pakistan were devastated by the2022 Pakistan floods.The immediate causes of the floods were heavier than usualmonsoon rainsandmelting glaciersthat followed asevere heat wave, both of which are linked toclimate change.
Extreme price increases for cooking oil sparked student protests and other civil unrest. The national government of Indonesia banned export ofpalm oil.As Indonesia is the largest producer of palm oil, and with a harvest decline in the second largest producer and neighborMalaysia, the ban has caused severe global supply chain disruptions and further exacerbated the price increases caused by the loss of Russian and Ukrainian oil exports and failures of soy crops in South America.Following protests by palm farmers, the ban was lifted in late May after being in effect for around three weeks.
Sri Lanka was much more harshly affected by the food crisis as it was already facing mass man-made crop failures due to a total ban on chemical fertilizer by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, resulting in rice production in Sri Lanka falling by 40–50%, while other crops also suffered large losses with some even reaching 70% loss even before it was affected by the Russian crisis. The2022 Sri Lankan protestsescalated in part due to food shortages and post-COVID-19 pandemic inflation. By the time government reversed the ban on chemical fertilizer the Russian invasion of Ukraine had caused fertilizer prices to rise making it unaffordable for Sri Lanka which had defaulted on its loans after nearly running out of forex reserves.On 9 May, Sri Lankan Prime MinisterMahinda Rajapaksaresigned from his position after protests on the country'seconomic crisisturned violent.
Europe'senergy crisisand the2022 Russian invasion of Ukrainecaused significant price increases for Europeanfertilizerandfoodindustries.According to Julia Meehan, the head of fertilizers for the commodity price firm ICIS, "We are seeing record prices for every fertilizer type, which are all way above the previous highs in 2008. It's very, very serious. People don't realize that 50% of the world's food relies on fertilizers."
In 2022, Europe'sdriest summer in 500 yearshad a negative impact on European agricultural production.
Starting on 21 February 2023,supermarketsin theUnited Kingdom, such asAsda,MorrisonsandTesco, beganrationingfruit and vegetables.The Telegraphgave the cause as "poor foreign harvests and adomestic farmingcrisis".Theshortageswere expected to last several weeks, and in a YouGov poll, 61% of UK respondents said they had personally noticed or experienced food shortages in their local shop or supermarket during mid-to-late February.Research from Kantar showed grocery price inflation hit its highest level since records began in 2008, with food inflation reaching 17.1% in February.
North America was already experiencing significant shortfalls and supply chain issues connected to the2020–2023 North American droughtand the2021–2023 global supply chain crisis.The supply chain crisis was also one factor ininfant formula shortages in the US.
Along with protests and civil unrest against thegovernment of Haitiin response to rising energy prices and the rising cost of living, as well as armedgang violenceand an outbreak ofcholera, Haiti is experiencing widespreadacute hunger. On 14 October 2022, the WFP reported that a record 4.7 million people (almost half of the country's population) are currently facing acute hunger in Haiti;using theIntegrated Food Security Phase Classification(IPC) scale, the WFP classified 19,000 of those people as belonging to the fifth and highest level on the scale, the "Catastrophe" phase (IPC 5).
The 2022 food crises have added to the mountinginflation in Chilehas experienced since 2020. Measured by the change in theÍndice de Precios al Consumidor, the (IPC) in March 2022 relative to March 2021 indicated an inflation rate of 1.9%, the highest known since October 1993.Bread and meat prices increased as well as those of food in general.Cooking oilprices have risen, with a particular brand at a Santiago supermarket experiencing a 90% price increase from April 2021 to April 2022.
The inflation in food prices is thought to be behind an increasing number of supermarketcredit cardsissued in 2022 as well as increasing rates of supermarket credit carddebt default.In April 2022, PresidentGabriel Boricannounced a $3.7 billion economic recovery plan that included an increase in the minimum wage to help people deal with rising prices.Supermarkets belonging toCencosudbegun rationing cooking oil, rice and flour in late April.
In May 2021, Argentina banned all meat exports to curb inflation.
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted food supply chains around the world, disrupting distribution channels at the consumption and distribution stages of thefood industry. A rise in fuel and transport prices further increased the complexity of distribution as food competed with other goods. At the same time, significantfloodsandheatwavesin 2021 destroyed key crops in the Americas and Europe.
Natural gasis a major feedstock for the production ofammonia, via theHaber process, for use infertilizerproduction.The development of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer has significantly supported globalpopulation growth— it has been estimated that almost half the people on the Earth are currently fed as a result of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use.
Since 2021, the2021–2023 global energy crisishas spread to the fertilizer andfoodindustries.According to Julia Meehan, the head of fertilizers for the commodity price agency ICIS, "We are seeing record prices for every fertiliser type, which are all way above the previous highs in 2008. It's very, very serious. People don't realise that 50% of the world's food relies on fertilisers."The impact of agricultural input costs, including fertilizer and fuels, on food prices has been shown to be larger than the effect of the curtailment of food exports from Russia and Ukraine.
From February 2 to April 1, Russia banned the export of ammonium nitrate (AN) to guarantee supplies for domestic farmers following the spike in globalfertilizer prices, which were impacted by rising costs for natural gas.The conflict has affected virtually all economies, however, the most affected economies are in Europe and Africa. Most of these economies have explored to find alternative food supply chain partners and solutions in North America, South America, the Middle East, Australasia, and some regions of Asia and Africa that have been less affected by this conflict.
Multiple heat, flooding, and drought events between 2020 and 2022 significantly hurt global food supplies and reserves. These weather events, which have been connected withclimate change, made the food system less resilient to shocks like the war in Ukraine. Global reserves of wheat were extremely low at the beginning of 2022 because of these weather events.During the year 2022, many similar events connected to climate change continue to severely reduce agriculture production in the world.
Researchers have proposedgene editingas a solution,a technology with the potential to alleviate global food shortages by enhancing crop yields and increasing the resilience of crops to unpredictable climate fluctuations.
Climate change inIraqis leading to increasingwater scarcitywhich will likely have serious implications for the country for years to come.Additionally, Iraq'swater securityis based on the decliningTigris–Euphrates river system.
A drought in East Africa began in 2021 and further intensified in 2022, precipitated in part by the oncomingLa Niñain 2022.Three rainy seasons failed in the Horn of Africa, destroying crops and killing large herds of livestock.In Somalia, five rainy seasons have failed, Kenya and Sudan were also strongly affected.TheUNidentified 20 million people at risk of famine.Both wildlife and livestock have been killed by the drought.The region is especially vulnerable because an extreme wet season caused the2019–2022 locust infestation, which destroyed large regions of crops.
By early October 2021, nearly a year after theTigray Warstarted,Mark Lowcock, who ledOCHAduring part of the Tigray War, stated that theEthiopianfederal government wasdeliberately starving Tigray, "running a sophisticated campaign to stop aid getting in" and that there was "not just an attempt to starve six million people but an attempt to cover up what's going on."
82 million East Africans and 42 million West Africans faced acute food insecurity in 2021.
By the end of 2022, more than 8 million Somalis were in need of food assistance – roughly half ofSomalia's population.The rainy season of 2022 was recorded to be the driest in over 40 years,with an estimated 43,000 in Somalia dying in 2022.
In mid-2021, a severe drought in southernMadagascarcaused hundreds of thousands of people to suffer from food insecurity.In October 2022, UNICEF contributed with $23 million for children suffering from the famine,with a third of the population suffering from the disaster, according to researchers cited by theFinancial Times.
Drought significantly reduced harvests in North America including the United States which produces a quarter of the world grains. The years from 2020 to 2021 were the driest in centuries in North America. The production of crops in theMidwestdeclined by 20% in this period.
Droughts inSpainandPortugalduring early 2022 led to 60–80% loss predictions for crops in some areas.The huge amount of precipitation in March and early April 2022 in mainland Spain provided relief but did not fully revert the ongoing meteorological drought.Fruit crops in most of Europe were damaged by a cold wave that caused freezing rain, frost, and snow during early budding, after a period of unseasonably early warm weather.
Additional drought inItaly, has reduced the flow of fresh water near thePoriver, which is responsible for 40% of crop production in the country.Salt water intrusionis expected to greatly reduce the viability of crop production in areas near the delta.
In February 2023, theUK Governmentcalled the major supermarket bosses to discuss on filling the salads restock. As country is entering the pick shortage in third week. Some biggest Britain's grocery shops,Tesco(TSCO.L),Asda,MorrisonsandAldi, restricted the supply of cucumber, tomatoes and peppers to customers, due to unreasonable weather conditions, which brought shortage in supplies from southern Europe and North Africa. The crisis worsened due to less winter production in greenhouse of Britain and theNetherlandseffected due to high energy cost. Both factors affected the shortage of food in Britain Supermarket.
A heatwave that deeply affectedArgentina,Uruguay,Paraguay, and Southern Brazil caused yield declines for corn,soy, and other key grains, resulting in significant global commodity price increases.The heatwave further exacerbated an already dry season in much of the region.Drought made 28% of the agricultural territory of Brazil "no longer climatically optimal"
A severe flood inNew South Walesduring February 2022 caused the complete destruction of soy andricecrops and 36% ofmacadamia nutproduction.Animal herds and farming infrastructure were also severely damaged by the flooding, which was the third major natural disaster to agriculture communities in the region.
In a May 2022 editorial for the Guardian, environmentalGeorge Monbiotdescribed part of the collapse of food supply, a problem of concentration of supply in a handful of supply chains through the "Global Standard Diet" making the food system vulnerable to critical failures.He compared the food system failures to the 2008 banking crises, in terms of similar structural problems of concentration of economic power.
InChina, rollinglockdownsas part of azero-COVID policysignificantly reduced key agricultural inputs for important grain crops.Before that, China already maintained its food stockpiles at a "historically high level" in 2021, because of anongoing trade war with the United States. The deal and negotiation with U.S. and Australia could also be prodding China to buy food reserves.
Ethanol fuelmakes up about 10% of motor vehicle gasoline produced and consumed in 2021, and around 40% of corn grown is used for ethanol fuel in the United States each year. Because it is 33% less efficient thanpetroleumgasolinemiles driven from ethanol is less than 10%.
Risingmeat consumptionmeans a corresponding increase in demand foranimal feed, especially corn and soybeans, which contributes to higher food prices.
By the first half of the agricultural year 2022, according to theU.S. Department of Agriculture, China acquired 50% of the world supply of wheat, 60% of rice, and 69% of corn.China has maintained its food stockpiles at a "historically high level", contributing to higher global food prices.Bloomberg columnistAdam Minterwrote that "For China, such stockpiles are necessary to ensure it won't be at the mercy of major food exporters such as the U.S."
TheBiden administrationresponded to the growing shortages in April by trying to increase US farm production. The US policy community was worried about China or other countries filling the food gap. Obstruction in theUS Congressprevented new funding and resources for the crises.A group of 160 advocacy groups challenged funding cuts by the Biden administration and Congress toUSDAprograms.
On 18 May 2022, the US announced $215 million in development assistance to mitigate the crises.This was in addition to $320 million for the Horn of Africa.
Germany is working on a proposal to phase out the use ofbiofuelsproduced from food crops by 2030.Up to 40% of corn produced in the US is used to makeethanol,and worldwide 10% of all grain is turned into biofuel.A 50% reduction in grain used for biofuels in the US and Europe would replace all of Ukraine's grain exports.
On 30 June 2022, Russia withdrew its troops fromSnake Islandto not obstruct U.N. attempts to open a humanitarian corridor allowing grains to be shipped from Ukraine.
On 16 July, major news outlets reported that Kyiv is definitely a step closer to being able to export grain through its Black Sea ports after talks with Russia, facilitated byTurkey, and theUnited Nations.Russia was accused of blocking crucial shipments of grains from Ukrainian ports but claims its exports are impacted by economic sanctions. On 23 July, Russia shelled the port ofOdesawhich had recently been unlocked.
The first shipment since thegrain agreementwas set off for Lebanon, where theSierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni carried the cargo of corn.As of August 20, the total number of vessels leaving Ukraine in accordance with the agreement reached 27.
On 14 September 2022, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated his concerns over a constrained fertilizer supply from Russia due to the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraineand subsequent economic sanctions. According to the source, UN diplomats held discussions to re-open theTogliatti–Odesa pipelinecarryingammonia. PresidentVladimir Zelenskiyhad offered such a move in exchange for the release ofprisoners of warheld by Russia. ButTASSnews agency quoted Kremlin spokesmanDmitry Peskov, who dismissed such an idea, as saying  "are people and ammonia the same thing?".
On 29 October 2022, Russia suspended participation in grain initiative.However, vessel traffic will resume on November 3.
On 17 July 2023, Russian PresidentVladimir Putinwithdrew from a deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain across the Black Sea despite a wartime blockade,risking deepening the global food crisis and antagonizing neutral countries in theGlobal South.Following Putin's withdrawal from the grain deal, Russia launched a series ofattacks on the Ukrainian port citiesofOdesaandMykolaiv.Russia's Defense Ministry said the strikes were in retaliation for the2023 Crimean Bridge explosion, but Ukraine said Russia was attacking civilian infrastructure linked to grain exports.
Kenyansenior foreign ministry official Abraham Korir Sing'Oei said that Russia's decision "to exit the Black Sea Grain Initiative is a stab [in] the back" and the resulting rise in global food prices "disproportionately impacts countries in the Horn of Africa already impacted" by theworst droughtin four decades.
TheWorld Bankannounced a new $12 billion fund to address the food crises.
In May 2022, Máximo Torero, chief economist at the U.N.Food and Agriculture Organization, warned European politicians that if they move away from natural gas production too soon, the price offertilizerswill rise and more people in the world will suffer from hunger.
In May 2022, theUnited Nationscalled for Russia to facilitate the reopening of Ukrainian grain ports to mitigate the global food crises.