Ukraine Food Crisis: Understanding the Impacts of War on the Global Supply Chain and Applying to Future Events

Abstract

The Russian invasion into Ukraine impacted global trade and economic networks a year after the COVID-19 pandemic did the same. The effects of the war are far reaching; among the areas affected are global food supply and prices, international export controls, energy supply, and the environment.The focus of the technical report is to understand the impact that a military invasion has on a major global food exporter and the countries that it supplies. Ramifications of the pandemic, extreme weather, and the energy crisis laid the groundwork for surging food prices, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exacerbated this issue. The decrease in the production capabilities of Ukraine as a result of the conflict with Russia caused massive disruptions in the global supply chain.The technical report will use the Russian invasion into Ukraine as a case study, compiling datasets on topics such as changes in global GDP, wheat and edible oil prices, oil and natural gas exports, and research about Ukraine’s crop production and food supply, to understand how potential future military aggression could impact global supply chains.