The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that world food supplies could be threatened as a knock-on effect of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The WFP pointed out that the Middle Eastern and Asian nations rely on agricultural exports from the warring parties.

“There are already 276 million people suffering from acute hunger in 81 countries. The world simply can’t afford another conflict,” said Martin Frick, the director of the Berlin office of WFP.

Both Ukraine and Russia are key suppliers of agricultural goods, but harvests are now endangered in Ukraine and stuck in Russia due to sanctions.

Mr Frick noted that the effect of President Vladimir Putin’s war would be felt far beyond its borders.

“Egypt, with its population of 100 million, making it the Arab world’s most-populated country, gets most of its wheat imported either from Russia or Ukraine. The same for Tunisia,” he added. “Poor people in both countries rely heavily on bread as a source of nutrition. It is subsidised and thus relatively widely available.”

Experts in Tunisia are now warning about price hikes due to the war, and the country was looking for other sources of wheat, like Argentina or Romania. But it remains unclear whether those sources will be able to meet demand.

(dpa/NAN)