Developing countries facing major food inflation due to Ukraine crisis, says World Bank

The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has been devastating for the global economy with severe impacts on food security as well as the supply chain. With Ukraine amounting for a huge amount of food grain exports in the world, the crisis has resulted in a temporary stoppage of supply, and this has resulted in major food shortages. A report by World Bank confirmed on Monday that a number of developing countries are currently facing crippling food inflation and that has also resulted in price rises in richer countries. The report also stated that the situation can get even worse, and this can result in food bills across the world increasing by almost one per cent of their annual GDP.

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“The share of high-income countries with high inflation has also increased sharply, with about 78.6% experiencing high food price inflation. The most-affected countries are in Africa, North America, Latin America, South Asia, Europe, and central Asia,” the report said according to The Guardian.

There was some respite for the world economy as Russia and Ukraine announced an understanding last week that will allow passage of ships carrying food grains. However, with the world already suffering from the effects of the pandemic, the recovery will take a significant amount of time.

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According to the World Bank data, the worst victim of the food inflation was Lebanon who have been suffering since the explosion in Beirut. The incident resulted in loss of a significant amount of food grains and with the current invasion, the food scarcity has reached a completely new level.

Currently, the general inflation rate of the country remains above 150% amid food and fuel crisis.

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