The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has warned that the Ukraine conflict may cause a social and economic crisis in Nigeria and other countries of the world.
The conflict, combined with other crises, is threatening to unleash an unprecedented wave of hunger and destitution, leaving social and economic chaos in its wake, Guterres said on Wednesday, at the launch of a second report by the Global Crisis Response Group on ‘Food, Energy and Finance over the Ukraine conflict’.
Food prices are at near-record highs. Fertiliser prices have more than doubled, sounding an alarm everywhere. Without fertilisers, shortages will spread from corn and wheat to all staple crops, including rice, with a devastating impact on billions of people in Asia and South America, the UN chief stated.
Guterres noted that while this years food crisis is about lack of access, next years could be about lack of food.
According to the UN report, an estimated 94 countries, home to around 1.6 billion people, are severely exposed to at least one dimension of the crisis and unable to cope with it.
Guterres said the solution to the crisis ultimately lies in ending the war, and called for immediate action on two fronts: to bring stability to global food and energy markets, in order to make resources available immediately to help the poorest countries and communities.
Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, following Kievs failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements and Moscows recognition of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The two countries together account for nearly a third of global wheat and barley supplies and half of its sunflower oil.
Presently, around 20 million tonnes of grain is currently stuck in Ukraine from last years harvest, which, if released, could ease pressure on global markets.
