GLOBAL ─ The current world economic landscape has never been more complicated than now. From the sharp rise of global inflation bringing commodities prices to new heights to aggressive international monetary tightening policies to address the excessive expansionary measures that world leaders have implemented to mitigate the adverse effects of the long-lasting reign of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought massive lockdowns and overarching restrictions, including the global supply-chain flow.

To add burden, Russia launched a “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine early this year. The conflict has been raging past the first quarter of the year now. This destabilizes the European continent and puts a heavy restrain on global food exports as the mentioned countries are two of the top exporters of essential food supplies such as wheat and corn.

Thus, the World Bank (WB) warned that the ongoing conflict would result in an “increased hunger and food insecurity” in lower-income countries, which is already materializing in countries such as Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

The United Nations Steps In

Last month, appearing before the global press, the United Nations Secretary-General himself, Antonio Guterres, addressed the world regarding the real threat of global food shortages. During the news conference, Guterres warned its member states that the world now faces a ‘catastrophe” as a growing shortage of essential food supplies worldwide becomes apparent.

Guterres elaborated that aside from climate change; the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the rising world inequality exaggerated the food shortage to alarming levels. He exclaimed that hundreds of millions of people worldwide are under an “unprecedented global hunger crisis.”

The UN Secretary-General explained that the rising global energy and fertilizer prices would have a significant detrimental effect on food harvests across all continents in the world.

In his noteworthy message to world leaders and representatives, Guterres warned that the worse is yet to come, saying, “there is a real risk that multiple famines will be declared in 2022 and 2023 could be even worse.” A grim forecast that he noted must be acted with urgency. He added, “this year’s food access issues could become next year’s global food shortage. No country will be immune to the social and economic repercussions of such a catastrophe.”

Addressing the Pressing Matter on Hand

Guterres called for action to help alleviate the food shortage happening around the world, especially in developing countries. He proposed a debt relief package to revitalize these countries’ economic situation. Additionally, he called on the private sector to step up and do their part in helping maintain global food security.

Furthermore, Guterres revealed that the agency’s negotiators are now talking about a crucial deal that, if successful, would ease current restrictions on Russia’s food and fertilizer export globally and allow Ukraine to export food via viable channels such as the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken exclaimed that Russia must not have any excuse for holding back crucial food exports from world markets, saying, “The sanctions that we’ve imposed on Russia collectively and with many other countries exempt food, exempt food products, exempt fertilizers, exempt insurers, exempt shippers.”

Moreover, the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock echoed her American counterpart’s sentiment and expressed Berlin’s disbelief on Moscow’s claim that international sanctions imposed on the country’s “Special Military Operation” were the cause for food shortages. She revealed that Moscow exported wheat in comparable quantity in May and June of this year as in the same months of 2021. She added, “It was Russia’s war of attack against Ukraine that turned a wave into a tsunami.”