According to experts from the United Nations, more than 60 poorer countries are already struggling to pay for food imports due to the economic challenges posed by the war in Ukraine. This is apparent from a leaked e-mail, which the magazine ‘Politico’ reported online on Tuesday evening. These include Colombia, Malawi, Pakistan and Myanmar.
“In Sierra Leone, the consumption of nutritious food by poorer people is declining due to rising prices. Similar risks are being reported from Colombia, Congo, Chad, Ecuador, Iraq, Kenya, Malawi and Mauritania,” wrote David Nabarro, the World Health Organization (WHO) special envoy for Covid-19, on Aug. 4 from a July 28 expert meeting. the email viewed by Politico.
More money for basic needs
“Consumer organizations report that prices in Pakistan, Myanmar, Peru, Malawi, Burundi and Nigeria are increasing at an accelerating pace, with more people spending disproportionately on their basic needs,” the report said. About 12 governments are on the brink of default on debt repayment, and many are looking for debt relief options.
Earlier this year, UN Secretary-General António Guterres created a 32-member Global Crisis Response Group (GCRG) to address rising food insecurity following Russia’s invasion of its neighboring country, food-sized Ukraine, and propose policies to crises in energy, finance and food. A network of key players advises the GCRG’s nutrition division, chaired by Inger Andersen, head of the UN Environment Programme, and Nabarro.
Advisory group has so far yielded no results
The informal advisory group on food crises is said to have met 13 times this year, but is not mentioned on the United Nations website. There was no comment from the UN.
Josef Schmidhuber, an economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), asked if the Black Sea Agreement contains provisions that guarantee poorer countries can afford to buy Ukraine’s newly released grain. He got no answer. The next meeting of the GCRG’s so-called “Food Workstream Network” is scheduled for August 25.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
