IMF urges immediate action to combat food insecurity.

Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports

Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director (MD) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has called for immediate action to combat global food insecurity.

In a blog post, she stated that acute food insecurity was threatening the lives and livelihoods of 345 million people worldwide.

“The suffering is greatest in 48 countries, many of which rely heavily on food imports from Ukraine and Russia.” The financial costs of the crisis are also increasing.

“We must all act now to alleviate the suffering of those suffering from hunger by providing the necessary financing to countries that take strong policy action,” she said.

According to IMF staff, rising food and fertilizer import costs in countries vulnerable to food insecurity will add $9 billion to their balance of payments pressures in 2022-23.

“This will erode their international reserves and ability to pay for food imports,” they warned.

According to them, many countries’ policymakers have implemented fiscal measures to protect people from the food crisis, and highly vulnerable countries will require up to $7 billion this year alone to assist the poorest households.

“The international community must…take decisive action to ensure that the necessary financing is in place,” according to the IMF.

For several months, food and energy prices have been driving global inflation rates, particularly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Food prices in Nigeria have also driven the inflation rate to 20.5 percent as a result of attacks on farmers by criminals posing as herders and bandits, which have had a negative impact on food production across the country.

Farm flooding has also exacerbated food production challenges in the last two months.