Since its beginning on February 24, the war in Ukraine has had serious repercussions throughout the world. And it is the food crisis that currently worries many observers.
Until now, NASA had rather stayed away from the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. So life on board the ISS goes on as if nothing had happened (or almost). This week, the space agency released its analysis on the occupation of agricultural land by the Russian army. All thanks to data collected using satellites orbiting the Earth.
The specter of a major food crisis
These satellite observations show that 22% of Ukrainian agricultural land is now occupied by Vladimir Putin’s troops. 28% of this land is used to produce winter crops (wheat, barley, rye, rapeseed), and 18% for summer crops (corn and sunflower). According to statistics from the United States, Ukraine produced up to 46% of the world’s sunflower oil, 17% of barley, 12% of corn and 9% of wheat before the war.
These figures announce a possible major food crisis in the weeks and months to come. The main port (in Odessa) which is used for the export of these resources is now shut down. The incessant bombardments and the lack of agricultural labor are also factors that will have serious consequences on production.
Source : France 24
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