NUTRITION

Food crisis. On July 15, senior representatives of international organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Food Program (WFP) issued a joint statement calling for urgent action to address the global food insecurity crisis. These are in line with what FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu had previously stated to the G7. The implementation of the measures is aimed at developing countries, including Latin American countries.

Among the proposals for action, FAO states that it is vitally important to invest in the countries most affected by rising food prices, not only through food aid, but also by supporting the production of nutritious food. On the other hand, the organization proposes to advance in the reduction of food loss and waste, in line with the plan developed to achieve this objective. The organization also calls for a greater boost to the production, efficiency, resilience and inclusiveness of agrifood systems, through financial investment in the agrifood market, to improve supply chains. Along these lines, the importance of work focused on the development of rules and regulations, and on the infrastructure of value chains to expand access and reduce inequality is also highlighted.

Both the joint statement and Qu Dongyu’s address to the G7 identified the COVID-19 pandemic, global supply chain disruption and rising commodity costs, and conflicts and humanitarian crises, such as the war in Ukraine, as the main sources of threat to global food security and the functioning of agri-food systems. In this regard, the proposed measures aim to avoid setbacks in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and focus on short- and long-term implementation.

Next steps

Considering the objectives and scope of the proposals, it is expected that developing countries will be able to implement some or all of the measures in order to reduce and remedy the impact of the global food crisis.