GCC not at risk of food insecurity but inflation as Ukraine crisis disrupts supply

GCC not at risk of food insecurity but inflation as Ukraine crisis disrupts supply

RIYADH: The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine is creating major disruptions in global food supplies, creating fear of food insecurity and inflation in some countries heavily reliant on imports amidst rising energy costs. The two countries ranked among the top three global exporters of wheat, maize and sunflower oil, among others, according to a new paper by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, or FAO. In addition, Russia is also one of the leading exporters of fertilizer, an essential material used in the farming business. These disruptions, combined with rising transportation costs due to energy prices hikes, could lead to food insecurity for many countries in the Arab region. “With the Ukraine crisis, we are getting challenged by constant changes in the availability of raw material used in finished (food) products,” said Sasha Marashlian, managing director of Imagine FMCG, an international distributor covering the GCC markets. He said that countries exporting food commodities are now blocking or capping raw material exports. “This is translating into a lack of availability of certain products and a massive hike in food pricing due to supply and demand dynamics.” “In my opinion, every food product will be impacted,” he added,