Societal Impact Statement The conflict between Ukraine and Russia will negatively affect not only food security but also food safety. Crops produced in Ukraine and Russia are at little risk of contamination by mycotoxins such as aflatoxin. However, due to the conflict, wheat, maize, sunflower, and other crops that would have been produced in and exported from Ukraine will need to be produced somewhere else. If done in warm production areas, strategies will need to be implemented to prevent mycotoxin contamination, which has negative health, social, and economic impacts. Summary Conflicts across the globe affect food security and also have a heavy toll on food safety. Many of the areas affected by conflict are breadbaskets for multiple countries. When the production of staple crops is compromised by diverse conflicts, it becomes necessary to grow them somewhere else to satisfy local, regional, and/or international requirements. However, if that production is done in tropical and subtropical zones, it must be done incorporating strategies to prevent mycotoxin contamination, which has negative health, social, and economic impacts. Otherwise, increased production of susceptible crops in mycotoxin-prone areas may augment the already occurring negative impacts, which are severe in the global south.

https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10351

Multi standard citation

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Alejandro Ortega-Beltranhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3747-8094

Ranajit Bandyopadhyayhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2422-4298

https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10351

Biotech and Plant Breeding; Plant Production and Health

Aflatoxin; Agronomy; Food Security; Maize; Nutrition; Plant Health; Plant Production; Value Chains

Food Security; Food Safety; Food Production; Maize; Mycotoxins; Trade; Conflicts

ACP; Africa; Europe; West Africa

Nigeria; Ukraine

Headquarters and Western Africa Hub

Plants People Planet