FOOD SECURITYFarming the Next Front in Russia’s War on Ukraine
In recent months, food shortages resulting from the war in Ukraine have circled the globe, with price hikes of 20% to 50% for ordinary bread reported from Brazil to Pakistan and Egypt. Ukraine and Russia are among the world’s most important food exporters, providing more than a quarter of the world’s wheat supply, along with other important crops such as corn, sunflower seed oil and barley.
Billboards along the highway in Zaporizhzhia city say, “Russian warship go F*#@ yourself!” and “Put your Molotov cocktail here,” with drawings of red arrows pointing to sensitive spots on Russian tanks.
In the Zaporizhzhia countryside, wheat fields are nestled along the front lines and farmers wear body armor issued by the Ukrainian military as they work. The remnants of missiles are often found in these fields, farmers say, with recent attacks as close as next door.
“If the soldiers are the front line of this war, farmers are the second line,” said Vitaliy Lupynos, the owner of some 20 square kilometers of local farmland, where peas, barley, rapeseed and wheat grow. “We are feeding the country and the army.”
More than eight weeks into the war, Lupynos says, even a greatly reduced crop is not certain, with fewer than two months to harvest. In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, 85% of the farmland is now occupied by Russia and many farm workers remaining in Ukrainian-controlled lands have left the fields to join the army.
The region, one of Ukraine’s key food producers, usually generates an estimated 2.7 million tons of wheat. This year, farmers anticipate roughly 260,000 tons, if nothing else goes wrong.
But attacks in the city of Zaporizhzhia have become more frequent since Russia announced it would focus its efforts on eastern Ukraine after failing to take the capital, Kyiv. Farmers say they fear they could lose the entire oblast any day.
“We can’t tell what will happen tomorrow,” Lupynos said.
“It’s high stakes: like playing Russian roulette,” said Lupynos, referring to the deadly game of chance. “If Russian occupiers come here, they could take our lands. They could ruin the fields.”
Hungry World
In recent months, food shortages resulting from the war in Ukraine have circled the globe, with price hikes of 20% to 50% for ordinary bread reported from Brazil to Pakistan and Egypt.
Ukraine and Russia are among the world’s most important food exporters, providing more than a quarter of the world’s wheat supply, along with other important crops such as corn, sunflower seed oil and barley.
