We need to change how we think about world hunger

In February, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine interrupted the flow of grain from Europe to Africa, creating another humanitarian crisis on a second continent.

Fourteen African nations relied on Ukraine and Russia for half their wheat. Now, those shipments were canceled, and the supply shock spiked the price of replacement wheat to its highest level in 40 years. Prices eventually started falling in May, but in the interim, there were the makings of a modern famine, with world leaders sounding the alarm bell, calling for an influx of aid—money and pallets of food to be shipped to sub-Saharan ports immediately.

Even before the war in Ukraine, food aid had been skyrocketing, and it’s projected to keep rising through the end of the decade.