Get Ready For ‘hell,’ UN Food Chief Warns Amid Ukraine Shockwaves

The head of the world’s biggest food aid agency has a stark warning for European leaders: Pay more now to stave off global hunger or suffer a migration crisis later.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has sent a shockwave through international food markets, worsening the already dire problem of global hunger by disrupting supply and inflating prices.

That risks tipping the poorest, most famine-ravaged regions of the planet into political chaos and creating an unprecedented migration crisis, according to David Beasley, the World Food Programme’s executive director.

In an interview with POLITICO, Beasley warned that Europe must donate more funding urgently or it will bear the brunt of the fallout.

“We’re billions short,” he said. “Failure to provide this year a few extra billion dollars means you’re going to have famine, destabilization and mass migration.”

Beasley’s intervention will sharpen minds as EU governments draw up plans to address the food crisis resulting from the war, with a proposal expected as early as Wednesday.

Russia and Ukraine are among the world’s biggest producers and exporters of grain. The disruption caused by the war has a direct impact on countries that rely on these supplies in the Middle East and Africa.

Half of Africa’s wheat imports come from Ukraine and Russia, which is also a major fertilizer exporter. As for Ukraine, its exports have ground to a halt and its capacity to keep growing food this year is hanging by a thread. The crunch point will come in the fall, Beasley said, when the full impact of the war’s disruption is likely to be felt.

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