The Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Its Implications for the Global Food Supply Chains

Abstract

Food is one of the most traded goods, and the conflict in Ukraine, one of the European breadbaskets, has triggered a significant additional disruption in the global food supply chains after the COVID-19 impact. The disruption to food output, supply chains, availability, and affordability could have a long-standing impact. As a result, the availability and supply of a wide range of food raw materials and finished food products are under threat, and global markets have seen recent increases in food prices. Furthermore, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has adversely affected food supply chains, with significant effects on production, sourcing, manufacturing, processing, logistics, and significant shifts in demand between nations reliant on imports from Ukraine. This paper aims to analyze the impacts of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine on the effectiveness and responsiveness of the global food supply chains. A PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) approach, including grey literature, was deployed to investigate six key areas of the food supply chains that would be impacted most due to the ongoing war. Findings include solutions and strategies to mitigate supply chain impacts such as alternative food raw materials, suppliers and supply chain partners supported by technological innovations to ensure food safety and quality in warlike situations.

Exploring Food Supply Chain Trends in the COVID-19 Era: A Bibliometric Review

“…The focus of the first cluster is on the general impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on FSC systems and agriculture. The literature can be further extended to consider the impact of climate-related crises [137] and the Russia-Ukraine conflict on global FSCs during the pandemic [176]. The second cluster explored the mitigation strategies and measures required to improve FSC resilience.…”

Emerging trends in the agri-food sector: Digitalisation and shift to plant-based diets

“…The COVID-19 outbreak directly impacted the animal-based market and contributed to the raise of the demand of plant-based food as healthier options ( Di Renzo et al, 2020 ; Rzymski et al, 2021 ). In 2022, the Ukraine crisis impacted the market prices of cereals and legumes since Russia and Ukraine are major producers of cereals ( Jagtap et al, 2022 ). Prices increased in Europe and to provide for the demand for cereals, high amounts were imported from South America (mainly Brazil) and North America.…”

Connecting food supply chains

“…Big data analysis has been used to assess vulnerability in the Ukrainian agricultural system to provide a strategic view for global food supplies 9 . This study utilised remote sensing data from the EC Copernicus and MODIS programmes to assess vegetation cover and associated it with agricultural production intelligence so that vulnerability assessments could be delivered.…”