The world must rally to stave off a food crisis

The world must rally to stave off a food crisis

Humanity is staring at a food crisis like never before. That’s why world leaders are scrambling to head off a catastrophe with two meetings at the United Nations, aiming to lay out an action plan. Food insecurity is not new. It has been a reality for the poor in low-income and developing countries since conflicts, adverse climate patterns and the rising cost of fertilisers impact food production and supply. The Covid-19 pandemic made a bad situation worse, and the Russia-Ukraine war pushed the world into a hunger crisis. The warring nations account for 30 per cent of the world’s wheat and barley production, while Ukraine also produces 15 per cent of corn on Earth and takes care of half the sunflower oil requirements globally. The conflict has unhinged the world food supply chain and crippled the food imports of 36 countries, including some of the poorest. There was a sliver of hope when India vowed to release wheat stocks on the world market. But New Delhi soon announced an export ban after the heatwaves hampered domestic crop production and pushed prices higher. Before the Ukraine war, a record 193 million people went hungry in 2021, a jump of almost 40