Risk of unprecedented global wave of hunger as Ukraine food harvests worse than feared
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The predictions come as the UN warned that the failure to open Ukraine’s ports and allow shipments of wheat and other vital commodities would amount to a “declaration of war on global food security”. Matthew Hollingworth, the UN World Food Programme’s coordinator in Ukraine, said that the world now faced “an unprecedented crisis, an era-defining crisis”. open image in gallery The Horn of Africa faces famine as wheat prices surge Eric Munoz, Oxfam’s senior policy adviser for agriculture, said that levels of hunger were rising before Russia invaded Ukraine, but the war had made the situation “catastrophically worse”. “So you’ve got the four horsemen of the apocalypse rampaging through the global supply chain.” If Russia does not end its Black Sea blockade, the world could be locked into a “dangerous spiral” of lower food production and increased protectionism, Mr Rich said, pointing to India’s recent decision to block exports of wheat during a historic heatwave.