As one of the most food-insecure countries in the world, civil war-torn Yemen has been particularly affected by the decrease of wheat supplies due to war in Ukraine. Importing 45 percent of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine, for Yemen Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 meant a ‘perfect storm’. A strategic stock of wheat of the devastated state was about to run out when Kyiv signed an export deal with the UN and Turkey in July 2022 within a framework of the ‘Grain Initiative’. Ever since the unblocking of Ukraine’s seaborne exports the issue of global food security interdependence has left the radar of the public. However, the huge consequences the invasion of the major ‘breadbasket’ had on the countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) dependent on it, foremost Yemen, cannot be underestimated.
