Risk factors that could push the present food crisis into the future's
food availability crisis are increasing. QU Dongyu, Director-General of
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, mentioned
this to international policymakers at the G20 Joint Finance and
Agriculture Ministers Meeting. �??We must all work together to prevent
such a scenario,�?� he stressed.

The FAO DG pointed out theCOVID-19pandemic and the war in Ukraine as
successive global crises that led to a severe food access crisis.
Furthermore, the FAO Food Price Index indicates increasing prices for
internationally traded food commodities. Risk factors such as declining
stocks for some commodities, higher energy and fertilizer costs, poor
weather conditions in several key producing countries, uncertainties
related to trade policies, and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine are all
causes for concern.

With these growing problems on food, he asked the ministers to focus on
supporting food access for all poor and vulnerable countries and
populations, expanding social protection programs and humanitarian
assistance, and committing to an open, predictable, and well-functioning
global market and trading system. He also encouraged the Finance
Ministers to maintain a close dialogue with the Agriculture Ministers of
the G20 members.

[www.fao.org]