Status: 10/20/2022 3:31 p.m
Development Minister Schulze warned that the global food crisis would escalate. In the fight against hunger, it wants to make 530 million euros available this year – more than ever before.
Increasing conflicts, climate change, the economic impact of the corona pandemic, the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and the high level of debt in many developing countries: the list of reasons for the growing food crisis worldwide is long. Federal Development Minister Svenja Schulze listed them all and warned of a further increase in global hunger. It is already foreseeable today “that the food crisis will most likely worsen next year,” said Schulze in Berlin.
The director of the World Food Program (WFP), David Beasley, also spoke of an “unprecedented crisis”. The situation was worrying even before the Russian attack on Ukraine, Beasley said. The worst humanitarian crisis since the end of the Second World War is looming.
German aid for the Middle East, for example
The federal government is therefore supporting the UN World Food Program (WFP) with 530 million euros this year. According to the minister, the organization is receiving more than ever before. Last year the support was 476 million euros. The focus of German aid is on the Sahel zone, the Horn of Africa and the countries of the Middle East.
In addition, the cooperation between the Ministry and the WFP will be expanded. In this way, functioning food systems are to be set up in the countries affected by hunger. “It’s not enough to deliver sacks of grain and water tanks,” says Schulze.
Adaptations to climatic changes
Schulze said that many poorer countries are too dependent on food imports. “The answer must be a policy that turns developing countries back into producers.” In order to mitigate future hunger crises and, if possible, to avoid them, developing countries would have to plant their own food “that is adapted to the changed climatic conditions”. According to the Development Ministry, local cultivation and more efficient irrigation techniques are to be promoted, among other things.
Coming harvests are threatened by rising fertilizer prices. “In many African countries, a lack of fertilizer is likely to lead to a significant drop in production,” warned Schulze.
The number of starving people is increasing
After years of progress, the number of hungry people worldwide has been increasing again for several years: According to the World Food Program, 345 million people are acutely threatened by hunger, almost 200 million more than at the beginning of 2020. The number of chronically undernourished people is also increasing.
In the Horn of Africa, for example, up to 20 million people are at risk of food insecurity due to a devastating drought. In this context, the federal government announced on Thursday that it had significantly increased its international climate finance for 2021. As reported by the Development Ministry, 5.34 billion euros from budget funds were made available for climate projects in emerging and developing countries last year. A new high has thus been reached.
At the Paris climate conference in 2015, the industrialized countries promised to provide 100 billion US dollars in public and private funds for climate protection and adaptation in developing countries every year from 2020 to 2025.