Ukraine war fuels food crisis in distant Africa

FILE PHOTO: Maxwell Hwayo, 52, shops at a grocery store in Harare, Zimbabwe, March 17, 2022. Picture taken March 17, 2022. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo

Zimbabwean security guard Edwin Dapi was already struggling to provide for his wife and four children before a conflict 11,000 km (6,800 miles) away in Ukraine sent global prices for grains, cooking oils, fuel and fertilizer soaring.

Now his monthly pay of 18,000 Zimbabwe dollars, worth roughly $55 at the black market rate used at many informal markets, is stretched to breaking point.