What's New

Last week, the heads of the World Bank Group, International Monetary Fund, United Nations World Food Program, and World Trade Organization issued a joint statement calling for urgent global action on food security in response to skyrocketing global food prices.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to the disruption, by sanctions or war, of two of the world’s largest grain exporters. This means 2022 is shaping up to be a very difficult year for the global food system.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has imperiled global food security—creating suffering within Ukraine and displacing millions, while disrupting agricultural production and trade from one of the world's major exporting regions. The latter threatens to drive rising food prices still higher and create scarcity, especially for regions most dependent on exports from Russia and Ukraine—particularly the Middle East and North Africa.

According to the 2021 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC),  155 million people in 55 countries and territories in 2020 faced acute food insecurity and were in need of urgent assistance, the highest number since this type of global reporting started. The economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic was an important driver of the recent surge, conspiring with the structural drivers of food crises -- conflict, economic shocks, and weather extremes. These drivers are mutually reinforcing and are expected to intensify in the coming years.

Food security is expected to further deteriorate in 23 countries already facing food crises, according to a new report from FAO and WFP. These worsening conditions come as countries and regions are reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and struggling to address conflict, climate change, and economic downturn.