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The Russian invasion of Ukraine is endangering food security for millions of people around the world, particularly in low-income countries that depend on food and fertiliser imports.
The European Union is taking steps to ensure that global food security is restored through international cooperation. It is also mobilising humanitarian aid and support to the most affected farmers.
14 November 2022 - A new humanitarian aid package of €210 million will be provided in 15 countries, as the Commission steps up support to help those most affected by the devastating effects of rising food insecurity globally. This brings the EU’s overall support for global food security to up to €18 billion between 2020-2024.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine reverberates around the world. It is about the lives and livelihoods of millions of people around the world who fear they will not be able to afford to heat their homes or feed their children.
Russia’s aggression is driving the global food crisis
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had an immediate impact on food security for millions of people around the world. Costs throughout the food supply chain have increased. The increase in costs of energy and fertiliser have destabilised the agricultural markets, and trade flows to and from Ukraine and Russia are disrupted.
Ukraine alone provides more than half of the World Food Programme’s wheat supply. The shelling and bombing make it impossible for Ukrainian farmers to sow.
Russia is deliberately targeting and destroying agricultural machinery, food stocks, and processing and transport capacities in Ukraine.
Russia is restricting its food exports and blocking hundreds of ships filled with wheat in the Black Sea.
EU sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus do not target the agricultural sector. The purchase, import and transport of agricultural and food products are exempted from the ban on Russian-flagged vessels.
EU response
The EU, as a long standing and reliable partner for countries around the world, is working to ensure global food security and build resilient food systems.
Food availability is currently not at stake in the EU, since the continent is largely self-sufficient for many agricultural products. However, our agricultural sector is a net importer of specific products, for example feed protein. This vulnerability, together with high input costs, such as fertilisers and fossil energy, is causing production challenges for farmers and risks driving up food prices.
The European Commission is proposing a range of short-term and medium-term actions to enhance global food security and to support farmers and consumers in the EU in light of rising food prices and input costs.
We are:
helping to get grain out of Ukraine
supporting vulnerable populations
stepping up our food production
removing restrictions on food trade and promoting multilateralism
Strengthening global food security
Reduced crop production and exports from Russia and Ukraine carry significant risks for both food availability and affordability in the EU neighbourhood in North Africa and the Middle East, but also in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. This particularly concerns wheat, a basic food staple.
Global impact of reduced crop production
The Commission is committed to taking all necessary measures to ensure that the EU, as a net food exporter and top agri-food producer, contributes to global food security. The EU is a lead provider of humanitarian and development assistance to food and food systems.
Both humanitarian needs and costs are likely to increase and put additional pressure on humanitarian assistance. Since 2015, the EU has spent a minimum of €350 million per year for humanitarian food assistance. Between 2020 and 2024, the EU is investing €18 billion for food security worldwide. In the period 2021-27 the EU will support food systems in about 70 partner countries.
- On 6 April 2022, the EU and Member States pledged over €1 billion to address food security in the Sahel.
- On 26 April 2022, the EU and Member States pledged €633 million for urgent support and to strengthen food systems and resilience in the Horn of Africa.
- On 24 September 2022, the EU allocated €600 million to the most vulnerable African, Caribbean and Pacific countries hit by food crisis.
- On 14 November 2022, the Commission announced a new humanitarian aid package of €210 million for 15 countries most affected by the devastating effects of rising food insecurity.
For the Southern Neighbourhood region, the EU has adopted a support package of €225 million to mitigate the effects of potential emerging food crises due to high dependence on food imports disrupted by the war.
Moreover, the EU will continue to strongly advocate to avoid export restrictions and export bans on food, as well as for a well-functioning single market.
This profound crisis confirms that we need to accelerate globally the food system transition towards sustainability and resilience to better prepare for future crises. As a follow-up to the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, the Commission is engaging in eight global coalitions that all aim for food system transformation, resilience and sustainable productivity growth.
The EU is working hard to get grain blocked in Ukraine out to global markets, to be able to provide Ukrainians with much needed revenues and the World Food Programme with the supplies it badly needs.
The EU has opened Solidarity Lanes and supported them financially so that Ukraine's grain can reach the world’s most vulnerable countries.
The EU is also stepping up its own production to ease pressure on global food markets, and working with the World Food Programme so that available stocks and additional products can reach vulnerable countries at affordable prices.
The Commission is also supporting Ukraine in developing and implementing a short and medium term food security strategy to ensure that contributions reach farms where possible, and that transportation and storage facilities are maintained to enable the country to feed its citizens and to eventually regain control of its export markets.
€500 million will be distributed in national allocations to directly support farmers most affected by higher input costs and the closure of export markets. EU countries can complement this support up to 200% with national funds.
To address cash flow difficulties currently facing farmers, EU countries will be allowed to pay increased levels of CAP direct payments in advance.
The Commission has already:
- granted an exceptional and temporary derogation to allow the production of crops on land set aside within the EU, while maintaining full greening payments for farmers
- proposed a new Temporary Crisis Framework that would also cover farmers, fertiliser producers and the fisheries sector
The Commission will also introduce market safety net measures to support the pigmeat market in light of the particularly difficult situation facing the sector.
Preventive measures on limited Ukraine imports
The EU has agreed in May 2022 to suspend import duties, quotas and trade defence measures on Ukrainian exports to the European Union – known as Autonomous Trade Measures – to help alleviate the difficulties faced by Ukrainian producers and exporters following Russia’s unjustified military aggression.
Following the emergence of logistical bottlenecks in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, caused by wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed originating from Ukraine, exceptional and preventive measures on their import came into effect on 2 May 2023 on a temporary basis. Market distortions are no longer perceived in the 5 states bordering Ukraine, and thus these preventive measures expired on 15 September 2023. Nevertheless, Ukraine has agreed to put in place as of 16 September effective measures to control the export of the four groups of goods in order to prevent market distortions in neighbouring Member States. It has also agreed to introduce legal measures to avoid grain surges within 30 days.
The Commission will continue to monitor the situation to be able to react to any unforeseen situations. It will also refrain from imposing any restrictions as long as the effective measure by Ukraine are in place and fully working.
Measures to improve the supply of food staples will help to ease price pressures.
EU Member States may also implement reduced rates of value added tax and encourage economic operators to contain retail prices.
In addition, Member States can draw from EU funds such as the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) which supports EU countries’ actions to provide food and/or basic material assistance to the most deprived.
Resilience and sustainability of our food systems
Enhancing resilience by reducing the dependency of European agriculture on energy, energy intensive imports and feed imports is now more of a necessity than ever before. Resilience requires diversified import sources and market outlets through a robust multilateral and bilateral trade policy.