In a statement on June 24, the UN-Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned,“ There is a real risk that multiple famines will be declared in 2022.”
In a message to a meeting of representatives of several countries being held at Berlin, Mr. Guterres said that the world faces catastrophe because of the growing shortage of food caused by climate change, the pandemic, growing inequalities and on top of that the Ukraine war.
GRAIN, A leading international organization working on food and farming from a pre-people and environment protection perspective, has drawn attention to several longer-term aspects of the accentuating food crisis. In a recent paper GRAIN has pointed out that 60% of the wheat produced in Europe goes to animal feed and 40% of the maize produced in the USA goes to providing fuel for cars. True, this analysis concedes that the Ukraine war has seriously troubled some countries as about 20 of them are dependent on Russia and Ukraine for meeting more than half of their wheat needs and many are dependent on these two countries for a good share of their fertilizer needs as well, but longer terms solutions relate to more self-reliance in meeting food needs, which will also support many more local livelihoods, as well as reducing dependence on chemical fertilizers and pesticides to move towards sustainable and low cost solutions. Learning from past crisis situations, this review has also emphasized the need for protecting the food system from financial speculation. International trade needs important reforms while food sovereignty must be promoted, this review adds.
by Bharat Dogra
10/07/2022