David Beasley, the director of the UN World Food Programme, has warned "a staggering 50 million people in 45 countries are now just one step from famine." He explained, “Global food markets have been plunged into turmoil, with soaring prices, export bans and shortages of basic foodstuffs spreading far from Ukraine’s borders. Nations across Africa, the Middle East, Asia and even Latin America are feeling the heat from this conflict.”
Beasley says that threats to global food security have been exacerbated by the upheaval in worldwide fuel and fertiliser markets.
“Without urgent action, food production and crop yields will be slashed. This raises the frightening possibility that on top of today’s food-pricing crisis, the world will also face a genuine crisis of food availability over the next 12 to 24 months – and with it, the spectre of multiple famines.”
Ex-UK PM, Tony Blair said the food crisis now hitting poor countries in Africa, Middle east and Asia “is absolutely likely to cause serious unrest in the same way as it did before the Arab Spring”. He added “There is a real risk that this is not simply a problem just for this year but could be worse next year because of the huge problems next year in getting food fertilisers to make the crops succeed..."
Lifting the blockade will not alone undo the damage that’s already been done to global food security, saying: “This is a crisis that will play out over years, not months.”
UN warns of ‘looming hunger catastrophe’ due to Russian blockade | United Nations | The Guardian
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