UN warns war in Ukraine adds to hunger woes

UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations food chief is warning that the war in Ukraine has created “an unprecedented crisis” of escalating food prices that has sparked protests.

World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley said growing hunger will add at least 47 million people to the 276 million “marching to starvation” before Russia's invasion of its smaller neighbour.

Beasley told a UN Security Council meeting Thursday that 49 million people in 43 countries are already “knocking on famine's door.”

He stressed that conflict, the impact of climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic were already affecting food security but the war in Ukraine, which grows enough food for 400 million people, now has “the longest bread lines in the world.”

He said leaders must help open Ukraine's ports and increase food production.

With global hunger levels at a new high, the United Nations chief said Wednesday he is in “intense contact” with Russia and other key countries and is “hopeful” of an agreement to allow the export of grain stored in Ukrainian ports and ensure Russian food and fertiliser have unrestricted access to global markets.

But Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a ministerial meeting on the escalating food security crisis, which has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, that “there is still a long way to go.”

The conflict has closed Ukraine's Black Sea ports, halting food exports to many developing countries.

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