UN warns 'frightening' shortages of food due to Ukraine war will destabilise countries

As war rages unabated in Europe with representatives of global nations voicing concerns over an impending food crisis time and again, the Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), David Beasley said on Thursday at Ethiopia's Addis Ababa, that the world confronts"frightening" shortages of food commodities that might destabilise nations that rely on wheat shipments from warring Ukraine and Russia. As the prices of the food commodities surged across the world in recent months, the head of UNWFP warned that dozens of nations have risked facing agitations, riots, and political bloodshed this year, The Guardian reported.  

It is worth noting that every year, Ukraine produces a sufficient amount of food to feed around 400 million people. As per The Guardian report, Ukraine yields 42% of the world's sunflower oil, 16% of the world's maize and 9% of the world's wheat. Somalia obtains all of its wheat from Ukraine and Russia while Egypt receives 80% of its grain from the two nations.  

Furthermore, the World Food Programme (WFP) imports 40% of wheat for its emergency food-aid initiatives from Ukraine, and it has been compelled to decrease rations in some countries after its running expenses soared by $70 million every month. 

Apart from this, Beasley noted, “Even before the Ukraine crisis, we were facing an unprecedented global food crisis because of COVID and fuel price increases”. He added, “Then, we thought it couldn’t get any worse, but this war has been devastating,” The Guardian reported.  

The number of people suffering from 'chronic hunger' has increased

Beasley also claimed that the number of people suffering from starvation has surged from 650 million to 810 million in the last five years, citing the price hikes in transportation, fertiliser, as well as gasoline due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate issue, and the Ukraine war.

Over the aforestated period, the number of individuals experiencing "shock hunger" grew from 80 million to 325 million, according to Beasley. They are categorised as having food insecurity at crisis levels, which he defined as "marching towards starvation and you don’t know where your next meal is coming from,” The Guardian reported.   

As commodities' prices and inflation surged during the economic meltdown of 2007-09, riots and other forms of instability occurred in 48 nations throughout the world, Beasley informed. Pointing to that, he added that the economic issues which the world is facing today are considerably worse than they were 15 years ago, and if the situation is not handled, "famine, destabilisation of nations, and mass migration" will occur. 

Beasley cautioned by saying, “We are already seeing riots in Sri Lanka and protests in Tunisia, Pakistan and Peru, and we’ve had destabilisation take place in places like Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad.” He claimed, “This is only a sign of things to come.” 

Over 20 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain blocked by Russia

In the long run, Beasley urged the world's richest individuals to devote a greater portion of their fortunes to combating global hunger, as well as pushing Vladimir Putin to open up Odesa. Further, Ukraine's agricultural ministry claimed that Russia's blockade of its Black Sea ports has held over 20 million tonnes of grain that would otherwise be exported. 

Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Chief warned on Monday that the continuous Russia Ukraine war will lead to a worldwide food, fuel, and financial crisis. According to an Anadolu Agency report, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet noted that the food, fuel, and financial crises might force millions of people into food insecurity and poverty. Michelle Bachelet, speaking before the 50th Human Rights Council, stated that the crisis in Ukraine continues to "destroy" people's lives and has caused havoc and ruins. 

(Image: AP)