Since the turn of the millennium, a significant price increase of agricultural products on international markets was observed, which resulted in the price peaks in 2007/08, 2010/11 and 2012/13. According to forecasts, price levels and volatility will be increased in the coming decades by a soaring demand for food and renewable resources.
An increase in agricultural prices, especially those of staple foods, such as grain, constitutes a significant danger to global food security. There are concerns that poverty, starvation and malnutrition will increase in many nations, resulting in the corresponding negative impacts on the social, economic and political stability of these countries.
Increasing the supply of food is essential in order to shift the shortage ratios on the international agricultural markets. Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan (RUK) have emerged as important exporters on international grain markets within the last decade. The RUK countries are equipped with great, still unused potentials for grain production. Grain production growth would be possible by improving efficiency, for instance by the application of superior seeds. In addition, abandoned arable land could be used for grain production in the RUK countries. However, broad measures are necessary in order to make use of these production potentials, such as those encompassing infrastructural projects, the introduction of innovative technologies, as well as political measures. Particularly, restrictions on wheat exports constitute an obstacle to the exhaustion of the production and export potentials of the RUK countries.