"FOOD SYSTEMS"

The World Bank on Wednesday announced it is spending up to $30 billion as part of a comprehensive, global response to the ongoing food security crisis, in areas such as agriculture, nutrition, social protection, water and irrigation. WORLD BANK

Lack of grain exports driving global hunger to famine levels, as war in Ukraine continues, speakers warn Security Council.

Lack of grain exports driving global hunger to famine levels, as war in Ukraine continues, speakers warn Security Council.

Inaugurating the thirty-third session of the FAO Regional Conference for Europe on Tuesday (10 May), the FAO’s Director-General Qu Dongyu said the war in Ukraine “is causing enormous human suffering and leaving production value chains and supply chains destroyed,” adding that the effects of war “are being felt across the global agrifood systems.” FAO

Desperately needed rains across the Horn of Africa have so far failed to materialise, almost a month into the current rainy season, and if these conditions continue, along with stagnant and even decreasing humanitarian aid, the number of hungry people due to drought could spiral from the currently estimated 14 million to 20 million through 2022, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned. WFP

The war in Ukraine will impact consumers worldwide as the resulting increases in the price of food, energy, and fertilizers put the next global harvests at risk, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Qu Dongyu, warned. FAO

Ministers and high-level delegates from across Asia and the Pacific met Thursday with a focus on improving nutrition, lives and livelihoods in the wake of the global pandemic, while taking aim at ongoing climate and severe weather-related threats, and tackling diseases and pests that are affecting crops and livestock in the world’s most populous region. Improved ecosystem responses in the Pacific Islands is another key topic. FAO

Ahead of the World Ocean Summit, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) called for the recognition of the importance of small-scale artisanal fisheries and aquaculture, which are “a critical part of fisheries,” according to a senior FAO official. FAO

Tens of thousands of tonnes of extra medical waste from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has put tremendous strain on health care waste management systems around the world, threatening human and environmental health and exposing a dire need to improve waste management practices, according to a new WHO report. WHO

UN chief António Guterres said, “the Group of 77 and China is a vital part of our work. Your engagement and promotion of developing country priorities — and your support to our Organization — will be needed now, more than ever.” UNIFEED