UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (18) urged Russia on Wednesday to release Ukraine’s grain exports and allow world markets access to Russian fertilizers to help the West effectively combat the crisis.
Guterres warned that the crisis created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, compounded by climate change, the pandemic and growing inequalities between countries, could last for years. “If we don’t feed the people, we feed the conflict,” Guterres said at the US meeting at the UN to analyze global food security.
“Russia must allow the safe export of grains stored in Ukrainian ports,” the minister said, adding that “alternative transport” routes are “explorable”, especially for the sea exit of grains stored in Odessa silos. It will not be enough to solve the problem,” he said. At the same time, “Russian food and fertilizers should have full and unrestricted access to world markets”, urged the head of the UN.
According to Antony Blinken, head of US diplomacy, in the country’s southern ports, which Russia predominantly controls, there will be 22 million tons of grain waiting for export conditions, especially in Odessa.
According to diplomats, these fertilizers are not subject to Western sanctions against Moscow after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but their purchase by foreign countries could be prevented by measures against the Russian financial system.
António Guterres has been negotiating these two issues for weeks with Russia, Ukraine, the United States, the European Union and Turkey, who can assist in clearing mines around Ukrainian ports and ensure the displacement of ships.
“I am hopeful, but there is still a way to go. The complex security, economic and financial implications require the goodwill of all parties,” he said.
“Despite the war, Ukraine’s food production, food and fertilizers produced by Russia and Belarus, there is no effective solution to the food crisis without reintegrating into world markets”.
According to Guterres, the war in Ukraine has strengthened and accelerated the factors contributing to the global food crisis: climate change, the covid-19 epidemic, and growing inequalities between rich and poor countries.
He warned that the crisis “threats to plunge tens of millions of people into food insecurity, malnutrition and starvation” and that it “could last for years”. “In just two years, the number of people suffering from severe food insecurity has doubled, from 135 million before the pandemic to 276 million today,” said the UN chief.
World Food Program (WFP) director David Beasley reminded that the operating expenses of their operations increased by 71 million dollars due to the increase in fuel, food and freight caused by these crises. “This means we will feed 4 million less people,” he said.
– Global response –
For Blinken, the host of the meeting, “the crisis requires a global response”. In this sense, he asked countries to inject money into organizations in the system such as FAO, Unicef, and WFP so that they can continue to deliver aid to those in need, as did the US, which announced more than 2.3. Billions of new funds for emergency food supplies since the Russian invasion.
Recalling the World Bank figures, Blinken said the war in Ukraine “could push 40 million people around the world into extreme poverty and food insecurity” and blamed “only Russia”.
To alleviate food shortages, Blinken advocated for farmers’ efforts to increase production. In this context, Brazilian Agriculture Minister Marcos Montes said that Brazil is “one of the few countries in the world that can increase production without adding new areas to the production chain”.
– Million dollar aid –
The World Bank (WB) announced today that it will allocate an additional US$ 12 billion over the next 15 months to projects to tackle the global food crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. “In total, this represents more than $30 billion to tackle food insecurity over the next 15 months.”
Most of the funds will go to countries in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Central and South Asia, the World Bank said in a statement.
The agency added that the funds will support agriculture, provide “social protection to mitigate the effects of rising food prices,” and encourage water supply and irrigation projects.
The agency’s president, David Malpass, said rising food prices are having “devastating effects” for the poorest and most vulnerable.
source: Noticias
