CAIRO: Policymakers in some non-oil-exporting Middle East countries are racing to bring down surging food costs after their primary food supply chain was disrupted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has exacerbated staple food inflation that had already been steadily rising even before the crisis.

       Policies including diversifying food imports, increasing food subsidies and lowering food taxes have been pursued by these countries, which rely heavily on wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine and have limited financial resources to respond to rising food costs.

       Some countries have also moved to shore up their food stocks and seek policy adjustments to cut their heavy reliance on food imports, as food security is vital to maintaining social stability in the volatile Middle East.

       Over the past few weeks, several Middle East countries have seen cereal, oil and meat prices climb, especially countries highly dependent on imports from Ukraine and Russia, which are still fighting and engaging in tough negotiations.

       Turkey now pays US$346 (RM1,458) for importing a tonne of wheat, up from US$297 (RM1,251) in 2021 after the country’s supply chain was affected by the Covid-19 outbreak and US$230 (RM969) in 2020, according to statistics published by Turkish media.

       In Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, the market price of a ton of flour increased to 11,000 Egyptian pounds (RM2,544) in March, up from 9,000 pounds (RM2,082) a month earlier, said Attia Hammad, head of the Bakeries division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce.

       In Palestine, the costs of flour, vegetables, chicken and sugar have risen significantly.

       “The Russia-Ukraine conflict will have an impact on the global grain market, because Russia and Ukraine account for about 30% of global grain exports,” said Waleed Gaballah, a professor of financial and economic jurisdictions at Cairo University.

       The impact on the Middle East food market is particularly noticeable in nations that rely largely on Russia and Ukraine for imports.

       In Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, the price for a bottle of five-liter cooking oil has increased by 35% in three days to 200 Turkish liras (RM57) on March 7.

       With a 64% self-sufficiency rate in sunflower oil, Turkey meets the rest of its cooking oil need by imports, largely from Russia and Ukraine.

       Consumers in Turkey have flocked to grocery stores and supermarkets to empty shelves, due to the rising price of cooking oil and a fear of scarcity.

       In economically challenged countries like Lebanon and Yemen, higher costs will make staple food less accessible to the most needy.

       The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict will further complicate Lebanon’s food supply chain, as the country has already been suffering from a financial crisis and a severe shortage of foreign currency needed to import basic items and food products, said Ahmad Hoteit, a representative of Lebanon’s wheat importers.

       “Lebanon may face wheat shortage in the future,” he warned.

       In Yemen, rising food costs, compounded by the conflict, may exacerbate the country’s humanitarian crisis, according to the World Food Programme (WFP).

       Imports from Ukraine have accounted for 31% of the wheat arriving in Yemen in the past three months, with prices seven times higher than in 2015, raising the cost of WFP operations in the country to US$10mil (RM42.1mil) per month. — Xinhua