AMMAN — Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Assistant Director-General and Regional
Representative for the Near East and North Africa Abdul Hakim Elwaer on
Wednesday warned that the acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate
further due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, according to the Jordan News Agency,
Petra.
اضافة اعلان
Elwaer said that the war has had a
significant impact on the global supply chain, causing currency fluctuations,
fuel cost increases, impeding the flow of goods, and creating food shortages
around the world.
“Many Western countries are adopting
austerity measures in a proactive step to avert the global food security
crisis, mainly as a response to the increase of food prices imposed by the corona
pandemic, the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the global economic recession,” he
added.
At the same time, the rise in food prices may
have a positive impact on the food security equation when it comes to food
wastage, he said, indicating that when food becomes of great value, individuals
do not overuse it.
As for the situation in the Arab world, the
FAO official noted that the Arab region consists of mainly arid, semi-arid, and
dry areas, with limited water resources and arable lands, not to mention
climate change and its consequences, such as reduced precipitation, increasing
temperatures, and severe droughts.
“These consequences exacerbated the
challenges related to water scarcity and low soil productivity, and in turn
increased concerns about regional food security,” he added.
Elwaer also talked about Jordan’s experience
in food security and climate change, noting that despite the lack of resources
and being the country with the second-highest number of refugees per capita,
the Kingdom managed to remain resilient to food-related risks by launching a
National Plan for Sustainable Agriculture.
“Jordan has also launched a food security
dashboard, to follow up indicators and monitor food security situations
internationally, regionally and locally, and thus take the necessary measures
for a rapid response,” he said, indicating that FAO collects and disseminates
timely and reliable food and agricultural statistics globally, to develop
policies and strategies and avoid crises in the short, medium, and long term.
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