War in Ukraine threatens millions of undernourished people worldwide
A woman with her belongings and food sits on a chair in a makeshift shelter in the metro in Kyiv, Ukraine.
AP - Efrem Lukatsky
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Eight to thirteen million more people could suffer from undernutrition in the world if food exports from Ukraine and Russia were permanently prevented by the war, warns the FAO, the United Nations Organization for food and agriculture.
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Before the conflict, the food situation was already tight due to the Covid-19 epidemic.
After five years of relative stabilization, the pandemic has swept away this progress and even worsened undernutrition globally.
In 2020, the number of people affected increased by 1.5%.
To this was added during the pandemic a surge in energy and maritime freight prices.
These multiple factors have led to the explosion of food prices, leading to inflation, all over the world.
►Also read:
Horn of Africa: FAO warns of the urgency of aid to avoid a food crisis
But the situation has worsened since the outbreak of war between Ukraine and Russia.
The two countries, which are among the main exporters of wheat, maize, barley, rapeseed and sunflower, provide more than a third of world grain exports.
Worse, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is taking place at the start of the agricultural season, which prevents the next harvest and leads to a surge in the price of cereals, basic food products.
"
This is particularly the case for the 50-odd countries that depend on wheat imports and source 30% or more of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine
," FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said. .
He recalls that “
Egypt, Turkey, Bangladesh and Iran, which are
the biggest importers of wheat
, buy more than 60% of their wheat from Ukraine and Russia (...).
Lebanon, Tunisia, Yemen, Libya and Pakistan are also heavily dependent on these two countries for their wheat supply
”.
►Also read: War in Ukraine: "Food prices could increase by 8 to 20%"
On Friday March 11, French President Emmanuel Macron had already warned that Europe and Africa would be "
very deeply destabilized in terms of food
" in the next 12 to 18 months due to the war.
The international organization recommends that countries continue their exchanges as much as possible, in order to “
protect production and marketing activities intended to meet national and global demands
”.
"
To the large number of additional people around the world who are likely to be pushed into poverty and hunger due to the conflict, we must provide appropriately targeted social protection programs without delay
," Qu Dongyu said.
Concern is already mounting in the Muslim world: a few weeks before the start of Ramadan, there is a rush on flour and semolina, causing a further rise in prices.
►Also read: Nigeria: fear of a food crisis because of the war in Ukraine
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