US, other nations appeal to UN members to keep food markets accessible, avoid export bans

Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the United States along with many other countries on Thursday urged the United Nations members to keep their "food and agricultural markets" accessible and "avoid unjustified restrictive measures", like food or fertiliser export prohibitions. Following the ministerial meeting "Roadmap for Global Food Security-Call to Action," the nations appealed to all UN Member States to work together to alleviate the mid-term as well as long-term consequences of recent disruptions to 'global agriculture and food systems'.

According to a media note from the US Department of State, the countries collectively said, “We must collectively mitigate fertilizer shortages and the subsequent threat to food production, increase investments in agricultural capacity and resilience, buffer those in vulnerable situations from impacts to their food security, nutrition and well-being, and sustain high-level global political engagement on these critical issues".  

In addition to this, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken presided over the Global Food Security Ministerial Meeting held at United Nations Headquarters, which focused on increasing global food security, nutrition, as well as resilience. 

Almost 40mn people in 36 countries witnessed emergency levels of acute food crisis

As per the newly released '2022 Global Report on Food Crises', the total number of people encountering acute food shortages in the 53 nations are most in need of support and assistance which has increased dramatically from 135 million people in 2019 to 193 million in 2021, and almost 40 million people all over 36 countries witnessed emergency levels of acute food insecurity, just one step away from famine. 

Furthermore, in the media note, seven-point 'actions' have been mentioned that urge the UN Member States with available, adequate resources to make fresh, cumulative financial donations to major humanitarian organisations delivering life-saving humanitarian relief.  

As per one of the seven points, “All UN Member States to keep their food and agricultural markets open and to avoid unjustified restrictive measures, such as export bans on food or fertilizer, which increase market volatility and threaten food security and nutrition at a global scale, especially among those in vulnerable situations already experiencing increased poverty... call on all members to ensure safe maritime transportation in the Black Sea."

The media note further added that the food security outlook for 2022 and after that is 'grim' which is because of conflicts, severe climate-related occurrences including historic multi-season droughts and floods; economic disruption like the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on livelihoods, earnings, and food prices; and a slew of other threats to human, animal, and crop health. "This is compounded by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which is further exacerbating this already dire situation," it added. 

Apart from this, other 'actions' recommendations made in the note included a request for nations with available resources to temporarily ramp up fertiliser production, boost initiatives to assist the sustainable transformation of agriculture and food systems, and pleas for all nations to enhance their research investments in order to 'develop and implement science-based and climate-resilient agricultural innovations'. 

(Image: AP/ Unsplash)