Don't blame the food crisis on Putin.

We're currently going through a food crisis that is driving food insecurity to rise exponentially.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has certainly worsened it -but it's not the main reason why this is
happening.

In 2016 the number of severely food insecure people started to rise after a decade of slowdown. And
it hasn't stopped since then. Data from 2021 shows that 924m people are considered food insecure
(12.4% of the global population).

International public opinion, including magazines like The Economist, acknowledge that there are
different causes for the food crisis but ultimately blame the Ukraine war, considering it the straw that
broke the camel’s back. They estimate that there are roughly 25m tons of corn and wheat trapped in
Ukraine right now which could be used to feed developing countries and bring "immediate relief".

I dare to say the relief would indeed be immediate -as well as brief. We have been facing an increase
in food insecurity for 6+ years that has been worsened first by COVID-19 and now by the war but
ending the war will not actually solve the problem.

The main problem is that 43% of the grains we produce are used to feed animals or burned as
biofuel. In other words, we only consume less than half of what we produce grains-wise. There is
enough food; the problem is that we’re feeding animals with it instead of starving children.

That’s why we should redirect food available to humans. Putting a stop to draining our water and
farmland resources would also be of great help. Climate change is (and will continue to be) an
important cause of high temperatures and droughts, which leads to less grain production.

Tech innovations such as vertical farming, cell-based meat, and alternative proteins will undoubtedly
contribute to alleviating food insecurity by using fewer natural resources. Edible insects, for instance,
need 93% less farmland than cows to produce 1 gram of protein. They also produce the same output
for using 98% of water.

The food crisis is not a consequence of the war or decisions made by one specific person. It’s a result
of the food system we have all helped to build.

#food #farming #foodsecurity #climatechange #foodcrisis #agriculture #technology #future #foodan
dbeverage #foodtechnology #foodtech #business #businessanalytics #businessanalyst #businessanal
ysis

Sources:

- The coming food catastrophe https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/05/19/the-coming-food-

catastrophe

- FAOSTAT https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data