The current conflict means that crops are not being planted, looked after or harvested and many will now be on land which has been bombed, or which has land mines on it, or the crop has been trampled and squashed by vehicles and other activity.
Grain which had been harvested and was being stored has also been deliberately destroyed, ports are unable to operate as normal, and there are pressures placed on alternative supplies, meaning costs have risen. This is the same situation for sunflower oil, which has led to issues of supply and the need to change recipes for processed foods.
This is a sobering issue of the Economist, and the cover illustration by Ricardo Rey is particularly powerful.
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