The article details how Russian strikes on Ukrainian ports, particularly Odessa, have disrupted grain exports and threatened global food supply chains. These attacks, part of a broader maritime conflict with Ukraine, have halted nearly all shipping in and out of Odessa, a critical hub for Ukraine's grain exports. The campaign, which began in 2022, has caused spikes in global food prices and increased hunger risks for millions. Ukrainian officials report at least 50 cargo ships attacked in June and July, killing over 30 civilians. The strikes are part of Russia's response to Ukraine's targeting of Russian-linked tankers and cargo vessels, which have left Crimea isolated. The article highlights the broader implications for international maritime security, with similar conflicts emerging in regions like the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz. The situation echoes the 2022 blockade, raising concerns about food shortages and economic impacts worldwide.

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Iran war threatens global food security through rising food prices, supply chain disruptions, and energy shocks. Learn the risks and solutions today.

Background The conventional food self-sufficiency ratio (CFSSR), which primarily focuses on grains, fails to capture the full spectrum of daily food consumption. This limitation reduces its effectiveness in cross-country comparisons and global food security assessments. In response to this issue, a new indicator termed the supply-side food self-sufficiency ratio (SSFSSR) has been proposed to encompass a broad range of food products and capture the entire food supply chain. The SSFSSR aims to provide a comprehensive and practical framework for assessing food self-sufficiency at the global level. Its calculation draws on multiple data sources, including FAOSTAT, the FAO’s Food Balance Sheets, statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), as well as original farm-level survey data collected by the author. Results The SSFSSR is calculated based on the total quantity of food available for domestic consumption, taking into account production, trade, and losses while eliminating double counting. Secondary products such as meat, dairy, and oils are converted into their primary equivalents using primary product conversion rates (PPCRs). Based primarily on 2021 data, the SSFSSR was estimated for over 180 countries, with an average value of 58.8%. A comparison with the CFSSR was conducted under consistent conditions. The SSFSSR demonstrated broader coverage across both food categories and countries, and showed stronger correlations with major food security indicators, such as food availability and caloric adequacy. The results also suggest that reducing dependence on secondary products—and thereby lowering PPCRs—can improve national food self-sufficiency. Conclusions The findings support the validity and applicability of the SSFSSR. Further refinement will require more accurate data on calorie content per unit weight and the expansion of reliable PPCR values for a wider range of food products, which would enhance the index’s precision and policy relevance.

Global seafood consumption has reached a record high of 207.7 million metric tons in 2025, according to a recent report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. This represents a 3% increase compared to the previous year, driven by population growth, rising incomes in developing countries, and shifting dietary preferences. The report indicates that

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has joined 13 faith-based and development organisations in pressing European Union negotiators to safegu...

US media project the former congresswoman and CIA officer beat Republican Earle-Sears to become state's first woman governor.

01 August 2025

01 August 2025

01 August 2025

By Hannah, Winter 2022. The Great American Plains have been an agricultural powerhouse for decades. In 30 years, they might not be. The reason? No water. We don’t often stop to ask where our tap water comes from, let alone where the water that grew our breakfast cereal comes from. For many Americans, the answer is the Ogallala Aquifer, an underground network of freshwater underlying 174,000 square miles in eight U.S. states: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming [1]. While we may take our free-flowing water for granted, American groundwater is far more threatened than we realize. The Ogallala Aquifer has been drying up since the first high-capacity irrigation well tapped into it in 1909 [2]. Drainage ramped up after World War II [3], when industrial-scale extraction began to fuel an agricultural system that could match the growing population of Baby Boomers. Since erosion cut off the eastward streams from the Rocky Mountains that filled the Ogallala more than ten million years ago [1], the aquifer hasn’t been connected to any bodies of freshwater. This means that the Ogallala only recharges with rainwater and snowmelt [1]. However, rain doesn’t happen often in a semiarid climate like that of the American West. Each year, the Ogallala recharges by one inch on average [1]. If fully drained, models estimate that the aquifer would take 6000 years to refill naturally [4]. To make matters worse, climate change models show decreasing precipitation and increasing drought in southern and western regions, meaning that refill might occur even more slowly – all while people and animals are drinking more water to fight the heat [3][5][6]. Today, the Ogallala is pumped to irrigate 13.6 million acres of American farmland [1]. The aquifer supports one-fifth of the U.S.’s major crops, including wheat, corn, cattle, and cotton [1], amounting to a whopping $35 billion per year [7]. The scale of the aquifer is hard to comprehend. According to Scientific American, the Ogallala Aquifer contains enough water to cover the entire continental U.S. with 1.5 feet of water [3]. But the Texas State Water Plan predicts that the Ogallala’s water levels will decline by a staggering 52% before 2060 [10], and 30% of Kansas’s access points have already run dry [7]. So how have we drained it so much? According to groundwater sustainability researcher Dr. Robert Mace of the University of Texas at Austin, the reasons can be boiled down to “economics, legal inertia, politics, and hydrogeology.” He explains, “The impacts of unsustainable pumping take decades to centuries to be felt, luring users into complacency.” The Ogallala is part of the High Plains Aquifer System, which provides water for homes, industries, and agriculture in eight states. Ogallala water is of incredibly high quality, generally needing no filtration or treatment before domestic and agricultural use [1]. From 1900 to 2008, we drained a massive 89 trillion gallons of water from the aquifer [7], 94% of which went to farming [1]. Much of this water used for farming is actually wasted; flood or furrow irrigation, the most widely used irrigation technique involving running water through small trenches in crop fields [9], loses about 50% of its water to evaporation and runoff [8]. According to the USGS, 23,000 acres of cropland were irrigated with flood techniques in 2015, using about 43.3 billion gallons of water per day — and wasting half of that [9]. Despite its known wastefulness, western farming still relies heavily on flooding irrigation because of its low cost. Government subsidies encourage farmers to purchase more land to produce more crops, requiring larger irrigation equipment — all of which costs money. To try to break even, farmers are forced to turn to fast and reliable irrigation techniques. This cycle is running the aquifer dry. Dr. Seth B. Darling, Director of the Advanced Materials for Energy-Water-Systems Research Center at Argonne National Laboratory, explains, “With groundwater, there is obvious short-term gain to be had by pumping lots of it for productive use now. That action will just as obviously result in massive long-term consequences, some of which rise to the level of being potential existential threats, but we do it anyway.” With a slowly replenishing aquifer, there are no natural ways to speed up the refill process; instead of solutions, we’re left needing to manage the remaining water as best we can. Scientists, policymakers, engineers, and farmers around the country have proposed a multitude of ideas ranging from subsidizing less water-intensive crops (like wheat and sorghum) [3][8] to injecting air underground to mobilize currently unavailable groundwater [1]. Some of the more attainable solutions include limiting the expansion of irrigated cropland and reducing the cost of water-efficient equipment [7]. Another management strategy involves planting new crops on low- or no-till ground. Not tilling the soil from old crops can reduce soil erosion and water loss from evaporation, as well as catch drifting snow and boost soil nutrients [3]. Economically, farmers can use lowering groundwater levels as a tax write off on equipment. Replacing tax write offs with tax credits for conserving groundwater could be a compelling incentive to monitor and save more water [7]. Modern science is also turning its attention to the groundwater issue. In the laboratories, some scientists are genetically engineering crops like corn to require less water [6]. In the tech world, scientists have developed wireless infrared sensors to sense leaf temperature, providing farmers with indicators of exactly how much water their crops need [3]. Additionally, a new field known as precision agriculture technology has created remote probes that measure soil moisture in real time, showing farmers areas of under- and over-watering [8]. So how do we know which management tactics are best? Dr. Darling notes, “As with many large-scale, complex challenges, there isn’t really a panacea solution here. Rather, a collection of incremental solutions can come together to get us to a sustainable place.” The next few years will be crucial for determining the lifespan of the Ogallala Aquifer. Adopting as many management strategies and farming technologies as we can, as well as pressuring local governments and federal agricultural programs to favor conservation, will be key to slowing drainage of the Ogallala’s remaining groundwater. For many of us, understanding the fragility — and necessity — of our nation’s water sources is the first step towards more sustainable daily water use. Warns Dr. Mace, “In the end, an aquifer can only produce what it can produce. That means, at some point, the Ogallala will be managed sustainably whether we like it or not.” [1] Kromm, David E. “Ogallala Aquifer.” Water Encyclopedia. Accessed February 8, 2022. http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Oc-Po/Ogallala-Aquifer.html. [2] “Ogallala Timeline.” Ogallala Water. National Institute of Food and Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture, 2017. https://ogallalawater.org/ogallala-timeline/. [3] Braxton Little, Jane. “The Ogallala Aquifer: Saving a Vital U.S. Water Source.” Scientific American. Scientific American, March 1, 2009. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-ogallala-aquifer/. [4] Dobrowolski, James P. “NIFA Impacts: Saving the Ogallala Aquifer, Supporting Farmers.” USDA. United States Government, July 29, 2021. https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2020/05/01/nifa-impacts-saving-ogallala-aquifer-supporting-farmers. [5] Parker, Laura. “What Happens to the U.S. Midwest When the Water’s Gone?” National Geographic. National Geographic, August 2016. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/vanishing-midwest-ogallala-aquifer-drought. [6] Scott, Michon. “National Climate Assessment: Great Plains’ Ogallala Aquifer Drying Out.” Climate.gov. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, February 19, 2019. https://www.climate.gov/news-features/featured-images/national-climate-assessment-great-plains%E2%80%99-ogallala-aquifer-drying-out. [7] Sanderson, Matthew R, Burke Griggs, and Jacob A Miller-Klugesherz. “Farmers Are Depleting the Ogallala Aquifer Because the Government Pays Them to Do It.” The Conversation, November 9, 2020. https://theconversation.com/farmers-are-depleting-the-ogallala-aquifer-because-the-government-pays-them-to-do-it-145501. [8] Condos, David. “Farmers Trying to Save the Ogallala Aquifer Seeing Success.” US News. Associated Press, May 7, 2021. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/kansas/articles/2021-05-07/farmers-trying-to-save-the-ogallala-aquifer-seeing-success. [9] Water Science School. “Irrigation Methods: Furrow or Flood Irrigation.” U.S. Geological Survey. United States Government, June 13, 2018. https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/irrigation-methods-furrow-or-flood-irrigation. [10] Galbraith, Kate. “Panhandling for Water.” The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune, June 17, 2010. https://www.texastribune.org/2010/06/17/how-bad-is-the-ogallala-aquifers-decline-in-texas/. [11] Ruiz, Michael. _Kansas Sprinkler Irrigation System_. May 19, 2009. _Flickr_. https://www.flickr.com/photos/simax/3548017782/in/photolist-eZ9mSM-qpt1wR-6pww5o-r2VLdK-rmadcQ-rmabHY-9HGvnV-r4FRvh-r4ELQA-9HL9VQ-r4N4dH-rmfieM-rm7StV-rm9ZZo-qpfE5U-j58Zzx-riXpgy-r4N23R-qpt95g-qpsVWt-riXb2Y-rm7NaK-rm9XLf-riXnJq-rma39d-qpsXXH-j5def1-dkvPL8-aq7HWJ-9KAsjk-aq7Hs3-2i3wjyE-LncGKG-j58Wpe-bdUh4k-j58XoZ-LnodJi-dLEXGL-iXZLp-dLEX6u-dLEXXU-dLEYh5-dLzrjg-dRKP6y-dLEYym-bdUeJM-bdUdAx-bdUcrV-bdUd3K-bdUbP4/.

It’s not just Americans who will pay the price of more expensive imports.