On 24 July 2025, the Ukraine Foundation and the Professional Government Association of Ukraine co-hosted an Expresso online session with Professor Theocharis N. Grigoriadis, Distinguished Senior Fellow for Eastern European Affairs and Economics. The event, “Political Economy of Food Security: Evidence from Ukrainian & Russian Wheat Exports to Africa”, offered a timely and deeply analytical look into one of today’s most pressing global challenges.
Drawing on a groundbreaking study co-authored with Pavlo Martyshev, Oleg Nivievskyi, and Ivan Kolodiazhnyi under the auspices of the Kyiv School of Economics, Free University Berlin, and the European University of Viadrina, Professor Grigoriadis presented new evidence on the dynamics of grain exports and their geopolitical implications. He highlighted how the full-scale war in Ukraine has disrupted global food supplies, with Africa—heavily dependent on Ukrainian and Russian wheat—emerging as a focal point in the weaponization of grain trade.
The presentation unpacked the political and economic strategies at play in the global wheat market and emphasized what Ukraine must do to restore competitiveness while countering Russia’s manipulation of food insecurity as a geopolitical tool. Participants engaged with Professor Grigoriadis in an interactive Q&A, exploring practical ways for policymakers, agribusiness leaders, and researchers to address vulnerabilities in food security.
This session underscored the Ukraine Foundation’s commitment to advancing rigorous, policy-relevant research that not only addresses Ukraine’s challenges but also contributes to solving critical global issues at the intersection of economics, security, and geopolitics.
