Yara’s fertilizer terminal at Stockton, California. (Sebastian Braum photo, Yara.com)

Fertilizer maker Yara says world faces extreme food supply shock

Sanctions cut global fertilizer supply 15 per cent, company says

Davos, Switzerland | Reuters — Norwegian fertilizer giant Yara says donors urgently need to close the U.N.’s $10 billion food programme funding gap to avoid a catastrophe as sanctions on Russian fertilizers and Ukraine’s grain export problems have created an extreme global shock. “The world has realized that food can be a weapon and it […] Read more



U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken listens to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a “Global Food Security Call to Action” meeting of foreign ministers at U.N. headquarters in New York on May 18, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Eduardo Munoz)

U.N. chief in talks on restoring Ukraine grain exports

Contact made amid global food crisis

United Nations | Reuters — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that he is in “intense contact” with Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, the United States and the European Union in an effort to restore Ukrainian grain export as a global food crisis worsens. “I am hopeful, but there is still a way to go,” said […] Read more


Shortages of sunflower oil caused by the invasion of Ukraine hit Spain in March (the sign at this Barcelona supermarket says customers can only buy two bottles per person) but made headlines when limits were imposed on British shoppers recently. Coupled with a ban on exports from the world’s largest palm oil exporter, veg prices are expected to remain very high for a while. But it will also likely spur more production in many countries, says the general manager of Alberta Canola.

Sold-out shelves are back — but now it’s vegetable oil in short supply

Global supply was tight before Ukraine invasion, and now some countries are imposing limits on shoppers

Reading Time: 4 minutes Toilet paper. Dairy products. Flour. In the early days of the pandemic, everyday staples became near-luxury items as signs went up limiting purchases to one or two per customer. Now, thanks to another global crisis disrupting supply chains, vegetable oil is getting the same treatment in some parts of the world. “There’s already a strong […] Read more

Cargo ships are docked in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa on Nov. 4, 2016. (File photo: Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko)

Ukraine calls for moves to unblock ports, prevent global food crisis

Russia has mounted a blockade of Ukrainian ports

Kyiv | Reuters — Ukraine’s president called on the international community on Monday to take immediate steps to end a Russian blockade of his country’s ports to allow wheat exports and prevent a global food crisis. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made his comments in an online post after speaking to European Council President Charles Michel, who […] Read more


Yuri and Oleksiy, farmers wearing body armours and helmets, prepare for field work in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region amid Russia’s invasion, on April 26, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino)

Worsening global food security needs Ukraine, Russia production, UN chief says

Abuja | Reuters — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday the problem of global food security could not be solved without restoring Ukrainian agricultural production and Russian food and fertilizer output to the world market. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February has added to volatility in financial markets, sending commodity prices higher and affecting logistics, […] Read more

Refugees from Ukraine wait the Ukrainian-Slovakian border following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Vysne Nemecke, Slovakia, Mar. 4, 2022.

Russia’s war could affect agriculture around the globe

Fallout from the invasion could prompt a rethink and reordering of current systems, say economic experts

Reading Time: 4 minutes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will not only roil commodity markets in the short term, but could lead to some structural changes to agriculture both here and abroad. [READ MORE] Farming behind the lines in Ukraine Livestock production, the rise of faux meats, phosphorus recycling and biofuels were some of the issues raised by ag economic […] Read more


A drone photo from the Sampona commune of Madagascar on Feb. 11, 2022, shows Zebu cattle drinking water from a large puddle created from Cyclone Batsirai. The island nation’s south has been experiencing severe drought for the past four years, putting it in danger of what the World Food Programme calls “the world’s first climate change famine.” (Photo: Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis)

U.N. to roll out global early-warning systems for extreme weather

London | Reuters –– With climate change fueling dangerous weather worldwide, the United Nations is pledging that early-warning weather monitoring will cover everyone on the planet in five years. “Half of humanity is already in the danger zone,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said earlier this week. And yet, “one-third of the world’s people, mainly in […] Read more