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Grain production trends in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan: New opportunities in an increasingly unstable world?

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Abstract

Grain production in the countries of the former USSR sharply declined during the past two decades and has only recently started to recover. In the context of the current economic and food-price crisis, Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan might be presented with a window of opportunity to reemerge on the global agricultural market, if they succeed in increasing their productivity. The future of their agriculture, however, is highly sensitive to a combination of internal and external factors, such as institutional changes, land-use changes, climate variability and change, and global economic trends. The future of this region’s grain production is likely to have a significant impact on the global and regional food security over the next decades.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geography and Planning Department and Environmental Studies Program, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI, 49401-9403, USA

    Elena Lioubimtseva

  2. Geographic Information Science Center of Excellence, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, 57007-3510, USA

    Geoffrey M. Henebry

Authors
  1. Elena Lioubimtseva
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  2. Geoffrey M. Henebry
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Correspondence to Elena Lioubimtseva.

Additional information

Elena Lioubimtseva completed Ph.D. in environmental geography at Moscow State University, Russia, in 1994. She conducted research at School of Geography and Environment, Oxford University, UK, and School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Louvain, Belgium. Since 2000 she has been teaching at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, United States, where she holds a position of an Associate Professor of Geography and Planning and Director of Environmental Studies Program. Her research interests include human vulnerability and adaptations to climate change, landscape ecology, and land-use and landcover changes in Central Eurasia. Dr. Lioubimtseva is a member of the Association of American Geographers, Association for Environmental Studies and Science, and Central Eurasian Studies Society. She is an author of more than 40 articles and book chapters. Her recent articles include Climate and environmental change in arid Central Asia: impacts, vulnerability, and adaptations, Journal of Arid Environments, and Russia’s role in the post-2012 climate change policy: key contradictions and uncertainties, Forum on Public Policy.

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Lioubimtseva, E., Henebry, G.M. Grain production trends in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan: New opportunities in an increasingly unstable world?. Front. Earth Sci. 6, 157–166 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-012-0318-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-012-0318-y

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