The partners are working towards averting hunger caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, rising food costs and climate change.
The United States, several global development banks and other groups announced a multibillion-dollar plan on Wednesday to address the worldwide food insecurity crisis exacerbated by the Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced that a number of global development banks are “working rapidly to provide financing, policy commitments, technical assistance” to avert war hunger, wage costs increased food costs and climate damage to crops.
Tens of billions of dollars will be spent to support farmers, solve the fertilizer supply crisis, and develop land for food production, among other issues. The Asian Development Bank will contribute funds to feed Afghanistan and Sri Lanka and the African Development Bank will use $1.5 billion to support 20 million African farmers, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Bank will also contribute tens of billions of dollars in the coming months and years to support producers. food and solve supply shortage problems.
The plan stems from a meeting that US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen convened in April at the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, where she called on powerful nations to find looking for concrete ways to combat the looming crisis of global food insecurity that Russia’s war in Ukraine made even worse.
Russia and Ukraine produce a third of the world’s wheat supply, and the loss of the commodity to the war has caused food prices to skyrocket and uncertainty about the future of food security globally, in particular. in poor countries.
As part of efforts to resolve the crisis, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will convene meetings in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations over the next two days focusing on food insecurity. In 2021, more than 193 million people around the world will experience severe food insecurity, an increase of 40 million from the previous year, the State Department said. It is forecast that about 40 million people will fall into poverty and food insecurity by the end of this year.
Fuel and fertilizer shortages in many countries and rapidly rising food prices threaten to destabilize fragile societies, increase hunger and malnutrition, promote migration, and cause economic distress. seriously disturbed. Conflict has exacerbated food security problems globally.
Yellen has traveled to Germany to attend the meeting of finance ministers for the Group of Seven leading economies in Bonn, Germany this weekend. She met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday in Brussels. Yellen said they discussed “important issues related to energy security, Ukraine’s economic needs, and continued coordination to impose sanctions on Russia.”
While European nations plan to phase out Russian oil and gas gradually, the United States is urging European Union leaders to consider possible oil tariffs and other methods to prevent Russia from enjoying the benefits of oil and gas. benefit from rising energy prices.
Yellen’s visit to Europe, including time in Poland, aims to address the effects of the war in Ukraine, an international tax plan she negotiated with more than 130 countries last year and a The energy crisis contributed to high inflation worldwide.
In addition to the task of imposing financial sanctions on Russia, distributing coronavirus pandemic programs that are still in effect, and other tasks, Yellen will now be responsible for ensuring vulnerable populations The world’s most afflicted people did not starve to death as the war in Ukraine raged and threatened the world’s wheat and grain supplies.
