Rising grain prices, fueled by the Russia-Ukraine war, are exacerbating global imbalances, says an agricultural expert.

Agricultural scientist Sebastian Hess from the University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim told the German Press Agency: “Poor countries that are heavily dependent on imports strain their financial reserves to buy grain”.

Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) will discuss the consequences of the war with his counterparts from the major industrialized countries (G7) at Hohenheim Castle on Friday (11:00 a.m.). According to the government, the Ukrainian head of department Mykola Solskyj will be present to report on the situation in the country. In addition to Germany, the G7 also includes the USA, Canada, France, Great Britain, Italy and Japan.

Referring to the global markets, Hess said that “we have a very tight situation in grain, which is characterized by a lot of uncertainty”. He said of the situation in Ukraine: “An attempt is being made to bring grain from last summer’s harvest to Western Europe by rail trains because the Black Sea ports are blocked.”

“We have to reckon with the fact that bread, rolls and baguettes will become a little more expensive. But that won’t threaten our supply situation,” Hess said. States could try to adopt a hoarding strategy, he warned against stockpiling unnecessary. “Every individual should avoid stocking up on flour that realistically you’ll never need,” advised Hess .

The new harvest in Ukraine could be severely affected by the war, said Hess: “So far it seems that the worst forecasts for the current year have not come true. But the grain is not yet ripe and has not yet been harvested.”. A large part of the past harvest was still stored and it was very good. “The supply situation in Ukraine itself must not be forgotten. People must not face a hunger crisis,” warned Hess.

According to the director of the World Food Program of the United Nations (WFP) in Germany, Martin Frick, the concentration of three types of grain poses a threat to global security of supply. Wheat, corn, rice account for 40 percent of the calories consumed worldwide. It takes a return to the diversity of crops, such as sorghum, cassava and quinoa, to break these dependencies. The forgotten plants are often more resistant to the climate crisis, they are healthier. In the fight against hunger, more variety on the plate helps, said Frick.

The FDP faction vice in the Bundestag, Carina Konrad called for an expansion of food production. “We have to counteract the shortage of agricultural raw materials by increasing yields. Not only here in Germany, but worldwide,” she told the dpa before the meeting of the G7 agriculture ministers. The war in Ukraine means higher food prices for us, but dramatic hunger for the world’s poor. Plans to expand organic farming with its land and resource consumption did not contribute to the solution.

Welthungerhilfe warned of an even more drastic increase in the number of starving people. Welthungerhilfe Deputy Head of Policy Rafael Schneider told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” that the agriculture ministers had to initiate appropriate emergency aid as soon as possible in order to prevent this. The number of starving people continued to rise due to the rise in food prices caused by the Ukraine war. 800 million people worldwide are currently suffering from hunger.

There were also system bugs that Özdemir and his colleagues urgently needed to fix, as was the war. Measures against acute supply bottlenecks should not be at the expense of the environment. In order to compensate for the loss of imports from Ukraine, Welthungerhilfe criticized Özdemir’s plan to facilitate wheat cultivation.