The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) chief has warned that the Ukraine crisis is jeopardizing the global food supply, despite historically high inflation.
Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, said the consequences of Russia’s invasion were adding to rising food prices globally, and risking food shortages in the Middle East and Africa.
“Grain and corn prices are soaring, and leaders across Africa and the Middle East are telling me that supplies are running low,” she said at a speech on Thursday. “Food insecurity is a grave concern.”
According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, Middle Eastern countries purchase more than 60% of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine, which together accounted for 28% of world wheat exports prior to the war.
However, as a result of the onset of fighting, wheat prices have skyrocketed, reaching record highs in March.
Georgieva called on the world to “act now with a multilateral initiative to bolster food security.”
“The alternative is dire: More hunger, more poverty, and more social unrest — especially for countries that have struggled to escape fragility and conflict for many years,” she added.
Georgieva also warned of “the fragmentation of the world economy into geopolitical blocs,” with the West imposing far-reaching sanctions on Russia while China has expressed support for the Russian regime of President Vladimir Putin.
“In a world where the war in Europe creates a hunger in Africa; where a pandemic can circle the globe in days and reverberate for years; where emissions anywhere mean rising sea levels almost everywhere — the threat to our collective prosperity from a breakdown in global cooperation cannot be overstated,” she said.
Georgieva pleaded with the international community to lend assistance to Ukrainians, noting that the IMF has provided $1.4 billion (€1.29 billion) in emergency financing to assist Ukraine in meeting its urgent spending needs.
For the latest International News Follow BOL News on Google News. Read more on Latest International News on oldsite.bolnews.com
