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Global food prices are set to soar further after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Between them, Ukraine and Russia account for a third of the world's wheat exports, a fifth of its corn trade and almost 80% of sunflower oil production. (Figures from the US Department of Agriculture.) Alex Smith is a research analyst at the Breakthrough Institute - an environmental research centre in Berkeley, California. He says that trade through the Black Sea has been almost fully halted, and there are now limits imposed on trade between Ukraine and the Middle East and Africa. The countries most reliant include Lebanon, who source 50% of its wheat from Ukraine, and Egypt, where the figure is 60%. But many other countries in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and sub Saharan Africa depend on those supplies too, and countries like Lebanon and Yemen have very little reserves. Photo: Wheat field in Rostov, Russia Credit: Reuters
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