Thread by @ContextNewsroom

🇺🇦 The #Ukraine war may be miles away from families in the Middle East. But many fear it will be felt in their kitchens.

🌾 Russia and Ukraine export 29% of world's wheat. The crisis has sent food prices to a 13-year high.

Here’s how 3 countries are facing dire consequences. 🧵

🇾🇪 Yemen

🌾 The war-torn nation is almost entirely dependent on food imports, buying at least 27% of its wheat from Ukraine and 8% from Russia.

🥖 7 years of conflict has already left more than half of its people hungry. Now the #RussiaUkraineConflict is making things worse.

📉 Late last year, funding cuts forced the @WFP to shrink aid to eight million Yemenis.

🍞 A further surge in international wheat prices means Yemenis could be more vulnerable than ever, said @afrah_alzouba, who heads a nonprofit working to improve humanitarian access.

🇪🇬 Egypt

🌾 90% of Egypt's wheat come from Ukraine and Russia - and the conflict is now having a devastating impact.

📈 The government has been forced to raise the price of bread for the first time since the 1980s despite existing caps.

tmsnrt.rs/3sx93gw

🌻 Russia and Ukraine are also major suppliers of sunflower oil in Egypt.

👨‍🍳 Bakers are already feeling the sting of more expensive flour and cooking oil.

📈 One baker said his business had been hurt by a 50% jump in flour prices and a smaller spike in cooking oil prices.

🇱🇧 Lebanon

🇺🇦 Ukraine provides about 60% of Lebanon's wheat imports.

🇱🇧 Minister @AminSalamMET said the country would explore alternative supply options following the #UkraineRussiaWar.

🥖 There are only enough stocks to meet a month's requirements, he warns.

⭕️But even before the Ukraine invasion, bread was a luxury for some.

The 2020 #BeirutBlast had destroyed Lebanon's largest storage space for grains.

🥖Though wheat imports are subsidised and bread prices capped, many worry about the future as the #RussianUkrainianWar continues.

🇷🇺 The #RussiaUkraine war is affecting many in Russia as the ruble drops following sanctions.

But as the crisis pushes up wheat prices, food is becoming more expensive across the Middle East too.

✍️ @GebeilyM, @MennaFarouk91 and @TalaRamadan report. tmsnrt.rs/3sx93gw