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24 March 2022 – Food scarcity, with disastrous humanitarian consequences, could result from the conflict in Ukraine if Russia’s devastating assault on its neighbour is not stopped, UN World Food Programme (WFP) executive director David Beasley has warned.
Beasley pointed out that Ukraine was a nation that produced enough food for four billion people around the world.
“If we don’t end this war and get the (Ukraine’s) economy going again so they’re planting and harvesting, we’re going to have a global supply problem later this year.”
If Russia was allowed to continue its destruction of cities like Mariupol and other centres of crucial infrastructure and means of production across Ukraine, the largest military offensive since those of the 2nd World War could cause a “catastrophe on top of catastrophe”, Beasley said.
Not mincing his words, he said: “If we don’t act now, strategically and quickly, it could be hell on earth.”
Asked to go into detail, Beasley stressed that the WFP was already cash-strapped.
Prior to the conflict in Ukraine, the rations of eight million food-insecure people in countries like Yemen, Chad and Niger were already reduced to 50% because of rising fuel and shipping costs.
He said there would be a supply-chain issue, because, between them, Ukraine and Russia produced 20% to 30% of all corn, maize, and wheat globally.
If the situation in Ukraine was left for much longer, Beasley said, it could result in humanitarian need elsewhere in the world that could further destabilise the dire need of people spread across the Middle East and North Africa.
Millions of people would migrate from these regions to Northern Europe if they faced starvation because of food production disruption in Ukraine, he said.
“This no free lunch here. You’ve got to pay for it one way or the other. You’ve got to get a handle on this thing and stop the storm from getting worse.” Source (Freight News)