USA: An Egyptian widow is struggling to provide meat and eggs for her five children. A frustrated German laundromat owner sees his energy costs more than double. Nigerian bakeries have closed their doors due to the prohibitive price of flour.

One year later on February 24, 2022, the world economy is still suffering from the effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. There are shortages of grain, fertilizer and energy, as well as increased inflation and economic uncertainty already dealing with too much of both.

There is one consolation in the devastating effects of war: It could have been worse. Amazingly resilient, the businesses and nations of the developed world have so far avoided a painful recession, which would have been a worst-case scenario.

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But the pain has been greater in emerging economies.

Halima Rabie has struggled for years to provide for her five school-age children in Egypt, where nearly a third of the population lives in poverty. As prices keep rising, the 47-year-old widow has now cut short even the most basic groceries.

Rebi said when she entered the hospital where she works as a cleaner in Giza, Cairo's twin city, "it has become unbearable." "Meat and eggs are now considered luxuries."

A painful increase in consumer prices has gradually abated due to the war's effect on oil prices in the United States and other wealthy countries. It has raised hopes that the US Federal Reserve's fight against inflation will backfire by raising interest rates, which threatens to send the world's largest economy into recession, and sent other currencies down against the dollar.

Late last year, China also abandoned the draconian zero-Covid lockdown that had slowed the expansion of the world's second-largest economy.

Additionally, some luck has been helpful: a warmer-than-usual winter has helped lower natural gas prices and mitigate the effects of the energy crisis, after Russia shut off large-scale gas to Europe. However, the price of oil and gas was high enough to reduce the impact on the energy-exporting Russian economy.

According to Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, war is "a human catastrophe." However, its effect on the global economy is only a brief blip.

Still, war continues to harm people in ways big and small. For example, natural gas prices in Europe are still three times higher than they were before Russia amassed troops on the border with Ukraine.

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To run 12 heavy-duty machines that can wash 8 tons of laundry per day, Sven Paar, who owns a commercial laundry in Waldeuern, southwest Germany, paid almost 165,000 euros ($176,000) in gas this year which is more than 32,000 Euros. ($32,000) last year.

"We have personally passed on the costs to our customers," Paar said.

He has so far been able to retain his customers by showing them the electricity bills that will come with the price hike.

"Fingers crossed it's working out so far," he said. Customers complain at the same time, and they are forced to pass on the costs to their customers.

While it has kept its steady clientele, they are offering less business. Restaurants with low patronage require less tablecloth washing. There were fewer hotel sheets to clean in February as many hotels closed during their slow season rather than cover heating costs.

The poor are particularly suffering from high food prices. In Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia, where many people experience food insecurity, the war has disrupted supplies of wheat, barley and cooking oil from two major international suppliers, Ukraine and Russia. Russia was also the largest supplier of fertilizer.

Some food shipments from the Black Sea region have been allowed thanks to a UN-brokered agreement, but it expires at the end of the month.

Rabi started a second job in July at a private clinic in Egypt, the world's top importer of wheat, but he is still unable to meet the cost of living there. Her monthly salary is less than $170.

Raby claimed that in order to ensure that her children get enough protein, she only cooks meat once a month and now uses less expensive by-products. However, even reaching them is becoming difficult.

Although the government's recommendation for Egyptians to try chicken feet and wings as an alternative source of protein was mocked on social media, it also led to a jump in demand.

Raby observed that "the legs have become expensive as well."

Nigeria, a major consumer of Russian wheat, experienced a 37 percent increase in average food prices last year. Bread prices have doubled in some areas due to wheat shortage.

Alexander Verhees, owner of Life Flour Mill Ltd in southern Delta state, said "people have to make big decisions". What food do they buy? Do they buy food with it? school education? Medicine?"

After the price of flour increased by about 200 percent, at least 40 percent of bakeries in the capital city of Nigeria, Abuja, closed.

Mansur Umar, the chairman of the bakers' association, claimed that those who are still operating are doing so at a loss. "Many people have given up eating bread. Due to the expense, they chose alternatives.

Spain's government is investing 300 million euros ($320 million) to assist farmers in purchasing fertiliser, whose cost has increased since the conflict in Ukraine.

Jose Sanchez, a farmer in the village of Anchuelo, east of Madrid, said: "Fertilizer is essential because the land needs food." "Crops cannot grow if there is no food on the land."

All of this points to a slowing global economy. The International Monetary Fund revised its growth forecast downward for this year, and by 2022, about $1 trillion in lost output will have resulted. According to Nathan Sheets, global chief economist at banking behemoth Citi, Europe's economy, for instance, "is still experiencing significant headwinds" despite a decline in energy prices and is in danger of entering a recession.

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According to the IMF, consumer prices increased by 9.9 percent last year in poorer countries, up from the 5.9 percent anticipated before the invasion and 7.3 percent in the wealthiest countries, which was higher than its forecast of 3.9 percent in January 2022.

Such inflation in the US has forced companies to be nimble.

Co-founder of The Luxury Pergola in Noblesville, Indiana, Stacy Elmore, claimed that the price of providing health insurance for eight employees has increased by 39% in the last year, or by $10,000 per month. She also had to increase the hourly pay for her top installer from $24 to $30 due to a labour shortage.