Black Sea Conflict Sends Global Grain Supplies to the Brink

Ukraine's farmers are facing ruin as Russia and Ukraine intensify attacks on ports and shipping in the Black Sea, threatening global grain supplies. Despite a bumper harvest this year, with barns in southern Ukraine filled with golden mounds of grain, farmers like Viktor Zvirishyn say they don't know how they will survive.

Zvirishyn's house and farm were destroyed under Russian occupation at the beginning of Moscow's invasion in 2022. He has had to store his grain in a local silo and pile the rest in the open under tarpaulins, but he is almost out of money for fuel to prepare the land for the new sowing season.

Ukraine exported only 500,000 metric tons of grain from Aug. 1 to Aug. 18, just 20% of normal levels when the ports are fully functional, according to Taras Vysotskyi, Ukraine's minister of agriculture. Russia's grain exports were at 1.4 million metric tons for the same period, less than half what they were a year earlier.

Experts warn that if farmers cannot export their grain, they will probably lose the harvest for lack of storage. Mercy Corps' country director in Ukraine, Vicki Aken, issued an urgent call for a new grain deal last week, saying that Ukraine's farmers should not have their grain stranded or their livelihoods collapse because the world has failed to keep a safe route to market open.