When a dedicated YouTube channel for Ukrainian refugees in the UK was launched recently, there was only really one option for a name: Sunflower TV.
Ukraine’s sunflowers are a part of the nation’s identity. The oil that comes from the massive harvest each year – the biggest of its kind on the planet – is now foundational to a global food crisis. Rapidly spiralling shortages and price hikes in grains and oils are reverberating in every corner of the planet.
The Ukraine war maybe a conflict of Europe but as one senior Gulf official told me last week, its consequences are too important to be left to local initiatives.
A UN-led effort to free up the blockages in Ukraine’s grain exports is at the apex of overlapping initiatives. The idea is that ships could again start to carry cargo loads across the Black Sea from the Ukrainian ports.
To do that, a maritime de-mining strategy must be launched, concentrated particularly on the channels through Ukraine's hinterland that lead to the port of Odesa, one of the most important outlets for world food markets. Officials in Ukraine claim there is some progress in moving the stockpile of 22 million tonnes, derived from previous harvests, from the country’s silos.
The CSIS report warns that food was a weapon of this war from the outset
A number of alternative routes are being explored but these solutions so far create one simple dilemma: each is a more expensive undertaking than the Black Sea route. Another big question surrounds not just the past harvests held in abeyance before the war began four months ago. How much has the fighting impacted the Ukraine crops for 2022? Farmers even in the peaceful areas of the country cannot be immune.
In addition to this, the Washington think tank CSIS has released an extensive report showing that military operations are actively damaging the land. The collective of satellite images and analysis shows that farms in some of the most productive areas of the country have seen whole tracts destroyed by troop manoeuvres. Scorched earth tactics have been suspected.
Ukraine’s economy has been devastated. Oil supplies have been diverted. Fertiliser is way more expensive. Banks have run short of resources for working capital funding and loans to improve productivity. And confidence that conditions will be the same in five months after sowing when harvests come around has been lacking.
The satellite firm Maxar Technologies suggested last week that Ukraine’s overall crop could be reduced by 50 per cent in 2022 as a result of the disruption it has tracked. That is not so different from the figure provided by Ukraine’s agriculture ministry, which said there would a 40 per cent drop in production.
Some of the worst damage to the country’s expected yields was inflicted at the outset of the war when northern swathes of the country were invaded.
The Ukrainian military managed to repulse the Russian advance and the artillery has stopped firing in that area. It was too late for the farmers to regroup for this year and planting season was lost. The CSIS report warns that food was a weapon of this war from the outset.
That observation underlines the importance of the world speaking urgently with one voice about the conflict. It is not cost-free for any country. Both the rich Europeans and developing countries are suffering badly.
Energy prices are soaring, putting the political systems of too many countries through unforeseen crises and disintegration. The cost of living and, especially, eating is becoming unimaginably tough.
A week of diplomacy saw European leaders travel to Kyiv to provide overt support for the country at its toughest hour of need. Behind the scenes there was also frank discussions about the cost that they are bearing as the economies come under unheralded pressure.
It is not easy to weigh the various risks that face Ukraine’s allies and neighbours with the threat of annihilation that has been dumped on the country.
The case of the food crisis is a crisis for the UN-led international order. It has provided a crux point for the principle of universality. The World Trade Organisation held a series of meetings in which countries agreed not to restrict food exports.
What happens around Ukraine will be a key test of that small chink of progress, but any deal in Geneva will not be what makes a difference to grain shortage. If the war is prolonged, comparison will be made with the efforts to assert the principle of freedom of navigation in Asia and the Middle East.
There is a particular established set of treaties governing the Black Sea, but there is no reason why the current alliances could put this freedom of navigation rule to the test. As with much else in the war, the barriers to escalation are just broken. Weapons shipments have hogged the headlines. Sanctions are unprecedented. Political rhetoric is unhedged.
When it comes to food, talks need to turn into negotiations very quickly – or the scramble for supplies will supersede the war. As winter stores fail to fill up, the precious crops of both Ukraine and Russia are the telling prize of the conflict.
Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales
Najlaa Khoury, Archipelago Books
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
The Saga Continues
Wu-Tang Clan
(36 Chambers / Entertainment One)
ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand
UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
The Year Earth Changed
Directed by:Tom Beard
Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough
Stars: 4
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Bookshops: A Reader's History by Jorge Carrión (translated from the Spanish by Peter Bush),
Biblioasis
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
