US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen today called on Group of 20 (G20) economies to take emergency action to address a short-term food insecurity crisis exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine and avoid export restrictions and stockpiling that are causing market distortions.
Yellen, speaking at a meeting of G20 economic officials in Indonesia, said countries should target fiscal support measures to help those most in need, rather than adopting costly and blanket subsidies.
It also called on G20 members to boost spending to address existing food insecurity challenges linked to conflict, climate change and economic shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic that have been exacerbated by war-related increases in food, fertilizer and fuel prices.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “uses food as a weapon of war,” she said, citing “the destruction of agricultural infrastructure, the theft of grain and equipment from agricultural units and the blockade, in effect, of ports on the Black Sea.”
Yellen said households in the poorest countries are the most affected, holding back growth and undermining efforts to eradicate poverty.
“We need to take action to address the short-term food insecurity crisis and, just as importantly, the long-term drivers of food insecurity, including the link to climate change,” she said. “The speed and wisdom of our decisions now will make the difference in whether we bring today’s crisis under control.”
Yellen said G20 countries should build on the existing food security and agriculture architecture and insist that multilateral development banks, Rome-based food agencies, the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) and other agencies.
“We don’t need new institutions. We need strong coordination, knowledge sharing, research and development, funding and action,” he said, praising the creation of the Global Alliance for Food Security as a move to help.
For her part, Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati called on the G20 forum to come up with concrete actions to address food insecurity and the looming fertilizer supply crisis.
She said the world is facing an alarming global hunger due to war, export restrictions and the impact of the pandemic. The risk of a crisis in fertilizer supplies could exacerbate the food crisis in 2023 and beyond, she said.
SOURCE: APE-ME
Source: Capital
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