For Stricken Lebanon, Shipments of Ukrainian Grain Might Not Be Enough

Ukraine provided about 10% of the world’s wheat before Russia invaded, but it was a crucial supplier to countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, where the hunger crisis has been most acute.

Lebanon relied on Russia and Ukraine for more than 70% of its wheat before the conflict locked Ukrainian grain in a war zone. Food inflation in the tiny Middle Eastern country has vaulted in the past year to 122%, according to World Bank data, driven in part by the fighting in Ukraine. But the catalog of crises already faced by Lebanon means that even if Black Sea grain imports begin to flow back into the country, analysts say, they won’t be enough to address the country’s economic chaos.

The shipment is set to arrive in Lebanon two years after the explosion at the Port of Beirut, which killed more than 200 people, caused $15 billion in damage and accelerated the country’s economic free fall following its financial crisis a year earlier. The Aug. 4, 2020, blast also destroyed Beirut’s grain silos, further fracturing Lebanon’s fragile supply chain. The hulking remains of the storage units have been ablaze for weeks, after the summer’s heat ignited the fermenting wheat inside. The silos partially collapsed twice this week, on Sunday and again on Thursday, sending up a plume of smoke while Beirut residents marched in the street nearby, demanding justice for those killed in the…