Ten weeks into the brutal war in Ukraine, with thousands dead and over 5.7 million refugees and over 7 million internally displaced people, the world is struggling to cope with another problem - the unexpected effects of the disruption in wheat, maize and sunflower oil exports from Ukraine.
Due to fighting, ports are closed along the Black Sea so wheat cannot be loaded onto ships and has remained sitting in silos.
Farmers who are planting will not have any place to put their June harvest.
"This grain feeds around 400 million people around the world and these ports are shut down because of this war," said David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Porgramme from Odesa.
"Millions of people around the world starving to death and we need these ports open and we need it now," he said.
Ukraine and Russia account for a third of global wheat and barley exports, leaving millions across North Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia facing the potential loss of access to the affordable supplies they need for bread and noodles.
The war has raised the spectre of food shortages and political instability in countries reliant on Ukraine wheat including Ethiopia, Yemen and Lebanon.
Infrastructure – from ports and roads to farm equipment – is snarled and damaged, meaning critical supplies like fuel are difficult to get and routes for export almost impossible to reach.
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