NEW YORK – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that the world is facing an unprecedented global hunger crisis and warned that the situation could turn into a disaster next year.
Sending a video message to an international conference on food safety in Berlin, Guterres stated that the war in Ukraine has further complicated the problems that have arisen for years, climate change and the COVID-19 epidemic triggered the global hunger and food crisis.
“If we don’t act now, it will be too late to prevent disaster,” the UN Secretary-General said in a call to country leaders.
Guterres stated that the leaders warned him about this issue during his visit to the Sahel region of Africa last month, and said, “The Horn of Africa is also experiencing the worst drought in recent years. According to the World Food Program, the number of people who cannot reach safe food worldwide has more than doubled in the last two years. It has increased to 276 million people. 2023 may be even worse,” he said.
“Next year the situation could turn into a global food shortage”
Stating that the main cost of farmers is fertilizer and energy, the UN Secretary General stated that fertilizer prices increased by more than half and energy prices by more than two thirds last year, and that this increase could affect all harvests, including rice and corn, in Asia, Africa and America. Guterres said, “The food access problems we are experiencing this year may turn into a global food shortage next year. No country can recover from the social and economic effects of such a disaster.”
“We are trying to solve the problem with Turkey, the USA, the EU and other countries”
Guterres stated that support was provided for the solution of the crisis in access to food, but this support was not enough to solve the whole problem, and said, “We cannot find an effective solution to the global food crisis without reintroducing the food and fertilizer produced by Russia, as well as the food and fertilizer produced by Ukraine, to the world markets despite the war. I am in intense contact with Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, USA, EU and other countries on this issue. Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNITAD) and Martin Griffiths, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Aid, continue negotiations aimed at reaching a package agreement that will allow Ukraine to export food not only by land but also via the Black Sea. We are trying to reach an agreement that will bring Russian food and fertilizer to world markets without restrictions. I do not want to go into details on this issue because public statements may hinder the success we have achieved in the negotiations so far.”
“The global financial crisis has crushed people living on the poverty line”
Guterres stated that in order to solve the food crisis, the financial crisis in the world must also be resolved, and that hundreds of millions of people at the poverty line were crushed by the financial crisis, and called on developed countries to solve the crisis.
Antonio Guterres said: “Developed countries and international financial institutions must make resources available to help governments support and invest in their people. Developing countries facing debt default must defer their debts in order to keep their economies and people afloat. Financial institutions must provide the flexibility needed to get resources where they are needed most. Today’s discussions are an opportunity to take concrete action to stabilize global food markets and combat commodity price volatility. We need strong leadership from the political and private sectors for a unified and multilateral response. “We cannot accept mass starvation and starvation in the 21st century,” he said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the previous day that his country would give the UN 250 million Canadian dollars ($ 193 million) to solve the food crisis exacerbated by supply chain restrictions and high inflation after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.