Global Stockpile Of Grain 'Dangerously Low’; U.S. Sounds Alarm As 800 Million People Struggle With Hunger

Washington D.C./14.07.23/Turan:    The United States warned on Thursday that global stockpiles of grain are at historically low levels, due to climate and weather disruptions, war and other factors, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"We have more than 800 million food-insecure people in the world today," Dr. Cary Fowler, the U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security, told reporters during a Foreign Press Center briefing on El Niño and its influence on global food insecurity.

Fowler went on to add, "We also have, of course, the invasion and the war in Ukraine, which was one of the five top exporters of corn, of wheat, of sunflower, barley, and it’s affected those export markets tremendously. And you could expect in this kind of situation that with global stockpiles at low levels you would see more price volatility and see regional and local shortfalls. These could be in our future."

From a food security perspective, the special envoy said that he's keeping a particularly close, watchful eye on Southern Africa, on Central America, and Southeast Asia. 

Sarah Kapnick from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, added: "When we have the El Niño developing, the warmth from the ocean, there are impacts around the world that we should be watching out for, in addition to this background of extreme warmth around the world that we are also seeing,"

Secretary of State Antony Blinken also reminded in a Thursday evening statement that that global food crisis demand will increase by more than 50 percent in 2050, but due to climate change, agricultural yields of major crops could decrease over that same period.

"This dangerous combination could lead to price spikes, food insecurity, social unrest, political tensions, and conflict," Blinken warned. "We will never achieve food security without fertile soils and adapted and productive crops," he added.

The U.S, Blinken noted, is "committed to partnering with the international community on food security initiatives that lead to nutritious adapted crops and healthy soils for sustainable agriculture."

When asked by TURAN about Russia's threat to pull out of Ukraine grain deal and its implications for global food security, Special Envoy Fowler called it "quite unfortunate."

"It comes just ahead of the main harvest period in Ukraine when we would hope to be getting much-needed food out into the world market," he said.

Ukraine has  been one of the top five exporters of important food grains. However, Russian invasion has drastically affected exports from Ukraine. "We are very hopeful – well, we would be overjoyed were that – were the Black Sea Grain Initiative to be extended" Fowler said. "It’s scheduled to expire next week." 

Alex Raufoglu