World powers met at the United Nations on Tuesday to address rising food insecurity, with dire warnings of a devastating harvest next year due to the war in Ukraine.
The United States joined the European Union, African Union and Spain in a ministerial-level meeting on food prices, seen as a key driver of conflict and instability.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pointed to the impact of rising prices in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions, including Yemen, which has been ravaged by eight years of war from which it is experiencing respite.
“As we have seen in recent years as a result of Covid, pervasive food insecurity is affecting well over 200 million people on this planet before climate change and more recently conflict – notably Russia’s aggression against Ukraine – is affecting well over 200 million people, including Yemen, of course,” said Blinken.
The United States has increasingly highlighted Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – a major grain producer – as a factor in rising food prices.
Russia has blamed Western sanctions for its invasion, a claim denounced by the United States, which says it is not targeting agricultural or humanitarian supplies.
Blinken said it was “vital” to maintain a United Nations-Turkey-brokered deal that would allow ships carrying grain to pass through the blocked Black Sea.
But concerns about the long-term effects are growing. A recent report by the Ukraine Conflict Observatory, a US non-governmental group, found that about 15 percent of Ukraine’s grain stocks have been lost since the invasion in February.
Experts warn disruptions in fertilizer supplies could seriously hamper future harvests around the world.
“It is very clear that the current food supply disruption and the war in Ukraine will have an impact on the next harvest,” said Alvaro Lario, the new president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
“There’s a harvest or two a year and we’re already seeing that next year is going to be devastating,” he told AFP, warning the impact could be “much worse” than Covid.
He called for longer-term action that would require billions of dollars in investments to ensure the stability of food supply chains and adapt to a warming climate.
“We know the solutions and we have the institutions for it. What is currently lacking is the political will in terms of investment,” he said.
In a joint report in July, UN agencies including UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization said hunger would affect between 702 and 828 million people, or 9.8 percent of the world’s population, in 2021.
The number increased by 46 million people from 2020 and 150 million from 2019, showing the severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global food economy.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently said that the world will have enough food by 2022, but the problem is distribution.
If the situation doesn’t stabilize in 2022, we risk “real food shortages” in 2023, he said.
