Skip to main content

Failing to open Ukrainian ports means declaring war on global food security - WFP Chief

Countries
World
+ 1 more
Sources
WFP
Publication date
Origin
View original

NEW YORK – The UN World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director, David Beasley, addressed the United Nations Security Council today on the impact of the war in Ukraine on global food security. Here are selected highlights from his remarks: “We truly are in an unprecedented crisis. Food pricing is our number one problem right now, as a result of all this perfect storm for 2022. But by 2023 it very well will be a food availability problem. When a country like Ukraine that grows enough food for 400 million people is out of the market, it creates market volatility, which we are now seeing.

“In 2007 and 2008, we all witnessed what happened when pricing gets out of control. There were over 40 nations with political unrest, riots and protests. We're already seeing riots and protesting taking place as we speak. Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Pakistan, Peru… We've seen destabilizing dynamics already in the Sahel from Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad… these are only signs of things to come. And we have enough historical experience to understand the consequences when we failed to act. When a nation that is the breadbasket of the world becomes a nation with the longest bread lines of the world, we know we have a problem.

“As the Secretary General clearly spoke, we're now reaching about 4 million people inside Ukraine. In fact, we're scaling up to 900,000 on cash-based transfers as we speak. That will put liquidity back into the marketplace, but that does not solve the problem outside of Ukraine. That's why we've got to get these ports running. We've got to empty the silos so that we can help stabilize the food crisis that we're facing around the world.

“Truly, failure to open those ports in Odesa region will be a declaration of war on global food security. And it will result in famine and destabilization and mass migration around the world.

“Leaders of the world, it's time that we do every possible thing that we can to bring the markets to stability because things will get worse, but I do have hope. We averted famine. We averted destabilization over the past many years because many of you in this room stepped up and we delivered. And we can do that again. But we've got things that have to happen. Getting the ports open, stabilizing the markets, increasing production around the world. We’ll get through this storm, but we must act and we must act with urgency.”

CONTACT

For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):

Reem Nada, Lviv, Mob. +380666901231 (Ukraine) +201066634522 (whatsapp)

Tomson Phiri, WFP/ Geneva,
Mob. +41 79 842 8057

Abeer Etefa, WFP/Cairo,
Mob. +20 106 6634352

Martin Penner, WFP/HQ
Mob. +39 345 614 2074

Martin Rentsch, WFP/Berlin,
Mob +49 160 99 26 17 30

Steve Taravella, WFP/ Washington,
Mob. +1 202 770 5993

Shaza Moghraby, WFP/New York,
Mob. + 1 929 289 9867

Julie Marshall, WFP/Ottawa,
Mob +1 905 818 2664