Residents of Les Cayes, Haiti, huddle to receive food. The world hunger crisis is getting worse. Photo: AFP
A “perfect storm” created by the war in Ukraine along with the effects of climate change and the coronavirus pandemic has pushed the global hunger level to a new high, United Nations officials warned on Thursday.
Even 276 million people now face severe food insecurityfrom 135 million before the pandemic, and 49 million people in 43 countries are on the brink of starvation, officials said at two days of events at the United Nations this week on the issue of global food security.
“We are really in an unprecedented crisis. The price of food is our number one problem today, as a result of all these perfect storms for 2022. But by 2023 it will be a problem with food availability, ”said David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Program of the UN, at a Security Council meeting on Thursday.
Ukraine and Russia together produced 30 percent of the world’s wheat supplies before the war, and Russia and Belarus are the leading exporters of fertilizer, according to the UN.
The war disrupted supply chains and fuel prices have risen as a result of fighting and sanctions targeting Russia’s energy and banking sectors.
Pots of food in a family kitchen on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine. Photo: REUTERS
Raising and protesting
Rising prices of staple foods it has caused political turmoil in many countries in recent weeks, including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran and Peru.
Africa remains extremely vulnerable to food insecurity, according to the UN, and famine is threatening drought in East African countries such as Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken led the events this week.
On Wednesday, Blinken led a “call to action” meeting, attended by ministers from 30 countries, to discuss current needs and food plans.
On Thursday, the U.S. diplomat addressed a Security Council meeting about insecurity and the food conflict, whose impact the war on Ukraine dominated the debate. The United States holds the council presidency for the month of May.
The head of U.S. diplomacy, Antony Blinken, was speaking Thursday at the UN summit on food security, in New York. Photo: AFP
Food as a “weapon”
Blinken accuses Russia of using “food as weapon” to break the spirit of the Ukrainians. There are about 20 million tonnes of grain in Ukraine’s noose, the official said, and Russia’s attacks have affected food production and blocked its transportation by land and sea.
“The food supply for millions of Ukrainians, and millions more around the world, has literally been taken hostage by the Russian military,” Blinken told the Security Council.
Russia has denied having any role in the current food crisis. The country’s ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, called the accusations “blatant lies and fabrications.”
Nebenzya said Western countries were engaged in what he called a proxy war with Russia and blamed the West for “hostage-taking the entire developing world and pushing it into famine.”
Ukrainian farmers, in a field outside Kyiv. Photo: EFE
Alternatives
UN diplomats and officials also discussed ideas to alleviate the food crisis.
Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said in an interview that her country would offer logistics support in Ukrainesuch as shipping cargo ships, experts and food inspectors to facilitate the transportation of grains.
The official added that Canada will also seek to increase its own grain exports, weather permitting, and try to help countries buy their raw materials at reasonable prices.
“We know that food insecurity creates chaos and conflict, and this is exactly what Putin wants, and we cannot allow this to happen,” Joly said.
Food prices are rising around the world. Photo: AFP
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told a news conference that his country was facing food insecurity as it relied heavily on wheat and fertilizers imported from Ukraine. He called for negotiations and a peace agreement to end the conflict.
Zardari said the war could distract the attention of those impact of climate change on agriculturewhich he called the “existential threat of our time”.
António Guterres, the UN secretary general, claimed he was negotiating a “global agreement” under which Ukraine would export food through the Black Sea and Russia would be able to sell fertilizers and food products in the global market.
He also called for the removal of food export restrictions to facilitate distribution and urged countries to release food reserves and send the surplus to countries in need.
Guterres said the UN is releasing $ 30 million of its Central Emergency Response Fund for food security and nutrition needs in Niger, Mali, Chad and Burkina Faso.
“Feeding the hungry is an investment in world peace and security,” Guterres said.
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Source: Clarin