Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of lives threatened as a result of President Putin’s decision to cut off grain exports from Ukraine; and what assessment they have made of the remarks by the Executive Director of the United Nations Food Programme that “the war is going to jeopardise the food security of roughly 276 million people”.

Global humanitarian need and acute food insecurity is at unprecedented levels, driven by covid-19 and climate change, and exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 94 countries are already in crisis or emergency conditions and 49 million people are living a step away from famine. The impact of the invasion is being felt around the world but most acutely in countries already facing dangerous levels of food insecurity. Many have already reported alarming increases in the price of staple commodities since the start of the war. The WFP found the price of a food basket in Ethiopia has risen 66 percent, and in Somalia 36 percent. The UK is working with Ukraine and international partners to find ways, whether by sea or overland, to re-start the export of grain from Ukraine to the countries that desperately need it.