UN-WFP Warning! Global Food Crisis Seen; Nations Must Grow Food

The United Nations World Food Program, in its latest advisory, has said that as many as 828-M people in the world today are not sure where to get their next meal, warning that this could be a portent of a severe world food crisis.
In the Philippines, food prices are soaring while production slumped because of high farm inputs and flawed food security policies which include dependence on importation.
Here is the UN-WFP advisory:
“Conflict, economic shocks, climate extremes and soaring fertilizer prices are combining to create a food crisis of unprecedented proportions. As many as 828 million people are unsure of where their next meal is coming from. We have a choice: act now to save lives and invest in solutions that secure food security, stability and peace for all, or see people around the world facing rising hunger.
“The scale of the current global hunger and malnutrition crisis is enormous, with an expected 345.2 million people projected to be food insecure – more than double the number in 2020. This constitutes a staggering rise of 200 million people compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.
“More than 900,000 people worldwide are fighting to survive in famine-like conditions. This is ten times more than five years ago, an alarmingly rapid increase. An immediate response is needed. The global community must not fail on its promise to end hunger and malnutrition by 2030.
“But why is the world hungrier than ever?
“This seismic hunger crisis has been caused by a deadly combination of factors.
“Conflict is still the biggest driver of hunger, with 70 percent of the world’s hungry people living in areas afflicted by war and violence. Events in Ukraine are further proof of how conflict feeds hunger – forcing people out of their homes, wiping out their sources of income and wrecking countries’ economies.
“The climate crisis is one of the leading causes of the steep rise in global hunger. Climate shocks destroy lives, crops and livelihoods, and undermine people’s ability to feed themselves. Hunger will spiral out of control if the world fails to take immediate climate action.
“Global fertilizer prices have climbed even faster than food prices, which remain at a ten-year high themselves. The effects of the war in Ukraine, including higher natural gas prices, have further disrupted global fertilizer production and exports – reducing supplies, raising prices and threatening to reduce harvests. High fertilizer prices could turn the current food affordability crisis into a food availability crisis, with production of maize, rice, soybean and wheat all falling in 2022.”
The Philippines could avoid this grim scenario by amending its food security policies which rely so much on importation for any production shortfall, instead of boosting production locally.
Time and again, I had warned that if this is not corrected, food prices will soar beyond the reach of ordinary families.
The solution is really very simple – focus on local production and correct the flawed marketing system to ensure that farmers and fishermen’s produce reach the kitchen of Filipino families with less middlemen and traders in between.
Direct procurement of farmers produce will encourage them to produce more while pinpoint distribution of food commodities will allow wage-earning Filipino families access to affordable food.
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
#complicatingsimplethings!
(This file photo of a tribal family living in poverty and obvious need for food was taken in Kapalong, Davao del Norte.)