The Russia-Ukraine War and Addressing Africa’s Food Security Challenges

The Russia-Ukraine war has worsened systemic weaknesses in the international food system, disproportionately affecting African countries due to their high reliance on food, fuel, and fertiliser imports from Russia and Ukraine. This vulnerability is compounded by climate-induced weather events, internal conflicts, and structural infrastructure deficits. The report highlights that food price shocks have already triggered protests in countries like Uganda, Malawi, Senegal, and Sudan. To mitigate these risks, the authors recommend that private companies support the diversification of food sources and local agribusiness capacity, while African governments should reduce regulation and leverage regional integration platforms like the AfCFTA.

• The Russia-Ukraine war has intensified systemic vulnerabilities in the global food system, which is heavily reliant on a few crops (maize, wheat, and rice account for 60% of global caloric intake) and 14 major 'chokepoints' such as the Suez Canal and Black Sea ports.
• African nations are disproportionately vulnerable due to high import dependence; in 2021, Africa imported USD 4-billion in agricultural products from Russia and USD 2.9-billion from Ukraine. Specific dependencies include Sudan (90%), Benin (88%), and Ivory Coast (84%) for Russian wheat, and Libya (76%), Tunisia (46%), and Mauritania (38%) for Ukrainian maize.
• Food insecurity in Africa is compounded by external aid reliance and local crises. Approximately 40% of the World Food Programme's wheat comes from Ukraine, and 33 African countries depend on external food aid. Local vulnerabilities include climate-induced weather (flooding in Burundi, Djibouti, Mozambique, and South Sudan) and active armed conflicts in 15 Sub-Saharan African countries.
• Severe food insecurity is widespread, with over 40 million people across 20 African countries facing 'crisis' levels or above. Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Sudan are at the highest risk (IPCC 5), with populations at risk of famine.
• Fuel price increases in April 2022 affected several Southern African nations, with increases of 26% in Malawi, 22% in Zambia, 17% in Namibia, 15% in Mozambique, and 7% in South Africa.

APA

Buchanan-Clarke, S., & Maluleke, L. (2022). The Russia-Ukraine War and Addressing Africa’s Food Security Challenges. Good Governance Africa. https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2022/08/Russia-Ukraine-Intelligence-Report.pdf

Chicago

Buchanan-Clarke, Stephen, and Leleti Maluleke. The Russia-Ukraine War and Addressing Africa’s Food Security Challenges. Good Governance Africa, 2022. https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2022/08/Russia-Ukraine-Intelligence-Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Buchanan-Clarke |first1=Stephen |last2=Maluleke |first2=Leleti |title=The Russia-Ukraine War and Addressing Africa’s Food Security Challenges |publisher=Good Governance Africa |date=2 August 2022 |url=https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2022/08/Russia-Ukraine-Intelligence-Report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{buchananclarke2022russiaukraine, author = {Buchanan-Clarke, Stephen and Maluleke, Leleti}, title = {{The Russia-Ukraine War and Addressing Africa’s Food Security Challenges}}, institution = {Good Governance Africa}, year = {2022}, month = aug, url = {https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2022/08/Russia-Ukraine-Intelligence-Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }