The conflict in Ukraine has plunged global food and energy markets into turmoil, raising high food prices even further. These increases have an impact on markets in Syria, which limit people’s access to food. As well as, simultaneously increase operational costs for FSS partners in Syria, constraining its response at a time when people need it most.
In Syria, WFP have conducted an analysis on potential ramifications of the crisis in Ukraine on food security, more large scale assessment to follow in the coming months. FAO is monitoring the impact on agriculture imports, supply chain and wheat trends since the conflict started in Ukraine. In NWS, FSL WG disseminated an informative note on Ukraine Crisis and its impacts on northwest Syria markets jointly with ERL/ and CWG. As well as, a number of analysis conducted by research organizations working in Syria.
In Syria, signs of price fluctuations are already starting to show. Ongoing price monitoring of commodities by WFP from 75 markets across all 14 governorates in Syria, indicate that food prices have already started to rise over the past few weeks as a result of the Ukrainian crisis and its repercussion on global food and energy markets. For example, the price of WFP’s standard reference food basket at governorate level during the second week of March 2022 was at its highest level since monitoring started (2013). By the second week of March the national average price of WFP’s standard reference food basket was 18 percent higher than compared to its average price in February 2022 and 12 percent higher than the price during the first week of March. This indicates that even though some markets started to factor in possible supply shortages and fuel price increases into the price of goods in the first week of March, by the second week of March such contingencies where heavily factored into trading, highlighting the possibility of supply-side shocks in the future. The expected impact on Syria is not only one of lack of grain but also one of increased prices as noted previously. This is a troubling scenario in a country which has seen the price of food rise by nearly 800 percent since October 2019 (start of the Lebanese financial crises)
