LONDON (AP) – Ukraine’s government has banned the export of wheat, oats and other staples that are crucial for global food supplies as authorities try to ensure they can feed people during Russia’s intensifying war.

The new rules on agricultural exports also prohibit the export of millet, buckwheat, sugar, live cattle, and meat and other “byproducts” from cattle, according to a government announcement.

The export ban is needed to prevent a “humanitarian crisis in Ukraine,” stabilize the market and “meet the needs of the population in critical food products,” Roman Leshchenko, Ukraine’s minister of agrarian and food policy, said in a statement posted on the government website and his Facebook page.

It’s the latest sign that the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens the food supply and livelihoods of people in Europe, Africa and Asia who rely on the farmlands of the Black Sea region – known as the “breadbasket of the world.”

Russia and Ukraine together supply nearly a third of the world’s wheat and barley exports, which have soared in price since the invasion.

The products they send are made into bread, noodles and animal feed around the world, and any shortages could create food insecurity in places like Egypt and Lebanon.

The export ban will likely reduce global food supplies just when prices are at their highest level since 2011.

Consumers facing higher prices for products made with corn and wheat could be in for more pain as global supplies grow tighter because of the invasion.

Wheat prices have jumped 37 percent and corn prices are up 21 percent so far in 2022 after rising more than 20 percent throughout all of 2021. Persistently rising inflation has already prompted companies like Kellogg and General Mills to raise prices and pass the costs off to consumers and that pattern may worsen with the current crisis.

Ukraine accounts for 12% of the world’s total wheat exports, according to the USDA. It is also estimated to supply 16 percent of the world’s corn exports this year. 

“The U.S. is not a key trading partner with Russia/Ukraine but is nonetheless likely to feel the shock from other major countries that do rely on Russia/Ukraine,” said CFRA analyst Arun Sundaram, in a note to investors.

Russia, while a key player in the energy industry, also plays a key role in the global agricultural market with ingredients for fertilizer. It is facing increasingly restrictive sanctions and penalties as the war persists and that could stymie the flow of those ingredients, such as potash, or Russia could respond by cutting off supplies.

“Any cutoff from them in those areas would be quite damaging to western economies,” said Barry Bannister, chief equity strategist at Stifel. “That would be very destabilizing; the risk really isn’t energy, it’s agriculture if this is dragged out.”

Inflation is already at a four-decade high in the United States, partly driven by rising food costs. Food producers have signaled they are prepared to raise prices further if inflation persists. Consumers have so far been willing to pay higher prices, but additional price increases raise more concerns that people will eventually feel too squeezed and pullback spending.

Tom Vilsack, USDA secretary, has said that American wheat farmers will boost production to help offset the global impact of choked off exports from Ukraine. Analysts expect that tighter supplies and high demand will likely benefit some of the bigger agribusinesses, including Archer-Daniels Midland and Bunge. Those companies have already been benefiting from a boost in global demand for key products, including wheat, corn and soybeans.