Conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which provide more than a quarter of the world’s wheat exports, has sent global prices to a 13-year high — causing alarm in Middle Eastern nations that rely on imports for staples from flatbreads to couscous.
Elsewhere in the food-poor region, shoppers in Lebanon tried to stock up on bread early to avoid higher prices, while bakers in Egypt said they were already feeling the pinch of higher flour costs.
Across the Middle East and North Africa, fallout on food prices from the war in Ukraine could drive millions more into “food poverty”, said the WFP’s senior regional spokesperson, Abeer Etefa.
