World News | Special Report: Food in Crisis

Melbourne, Mar 30 (360info) Food supply chains already in flux in the wake of COVID-19 are under new pressure from the Ukraine war with potentially dire consequences for global stability.

Wheat, barley and fertiliser prices are skyrocketing by up to 40 percent in the wake of the war in Ukraine and the heavy sanctions levied on Russia.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Says Signals From Peace Talks ‘Positive’.

“This could cause an escalation of hunger and poverty with dire implications for global stability, says Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, a UN agency.

The conflict-driven price hikes come on top of food prices already driven to 10-year highs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pre-pandemic progress toward reducing hunger has been set back, an additional 100 million people going hungry in its wake.

Also Read | Pakistan PM Imran Khan Loses Majority as MQM Strikes Deal With Opposition.

REALITY CHECK

Access to adequate food is a human right recognised under international law, but in developing and developed economies, 768 million people faced hunger in 2020. Of these, 418 million live in Asia, 282 million live in Africa and 60 million live in Latin America and the Caribbean. Nearly one in three people in the world (2.37 billion) did not have access to adequate food in 2020.

In the last two years, the number of food insecure people more than doubled from 135 million to 283 million. Food insecurity ranges from people eating minimally adequate diets but having to make significant changes to support non-food needs, to famine where acute malnutrition and disease levels are high.

Around 660 million people may still face hunger in 2030, in part due to lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on global food security – 30 million more people than if the pandemic had not occurred.

The majority (60 per cent) of people affected by hunger live in conflict zones, with conflict the main driver in 8 out of 10 of the worst hunger crises.

The Russian Federation and Ukraine are responsible for 29 per cent of the global wheat trade, and many countries including Indonesia, Bangladesh, Eritrea and Armenia are all highly dependent on wheat imports from these markets.

Some countries including Indonesia, Argentina, Egypt and Morocco have put in place trade restrictions to protect their own supplies of food in the wake of the war in Ukraine.

BIG IDEAS

Quote attributable to Stephen K. Wegren, Southern Methodist University:

"Since 2014 Russia has been a central player in the international food market, ranking first or second in wheat exports every year. The war in Ukraine will change its status as an emerging food superpower."

Quote attributable to Jia-Qi Cheong, Senior Lecturer, University Malaysia Sabah:

"Mainstream urban farming methods now offer a well-structured set-up that requires minimum irrigation and zero pesticides. This allows mass implementation any time and anywhere."

Quote attributable to Rebecca Lindberg, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Deakin University:

"Australia's cafe culture, sourdough obsession and rise of organic food stores hide a harsh reality: some city-dwellers are being priced out of daily staples." (360info.org)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)