In several African countries, the inhabitants are suffering from the worst drought for forty years. Elsewhere in the world, other countries are experiencing flooding. Combined with the effects of the war in Ukraine, these phenomena accentuate the food problems. Eco guest of franceinfo, Olivier de Schutter, the United Nations special rapporteur for extreme poverty and human rights, calls for urgent mobilization, while famine is gaining ground.
“Today, we have six countries where famine threatens : Ethiopia, Nigeria, Yemen, South Sudan, Afghanistan and Somalia, he explains. Nearly 750,000 people are in a situation of potential starvation. Unfortunately, once again, the international community is taken aback. We have not planned at all for a humanitarian response commensurate with the challenges, and these populations risk being left to their own devices for the weeks to come.“.
Once again, we have not learned the lessons of the past. We find ourselves taken by surprise by these events and this spiral between natural disasters and conflicts leading to population displacements.
Olivier de Schutter, UN special rapporteur on extreme povertyon franceinfo
“The price increase does not date from the Ukrainian conflict“, recalls the UN special rapporteur: “This increase is linked to the increase in energy, oil and gas prices. Let’s not forget that agricultural and food production depends very heavily on the use of fossil energy“. But “the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the blocking of the Black Sea ports where nearly 25 million tons of wheat are blocked (…), this has increased panic on the markets and this has stimulated speculation in the share of some major players in these grain markets.“
A speculative bubble is affecting populations today.
The UN special rapporteur calls on the world to mobilize to avoid a crisis that would be worse than that of 2008, by bringing “a humanitarian response to countries in North Africa and the Middle East, which today can no longer pay their food bills“. But Olivier de Schutter also wants a substantive answer: “In the medium term, we must relieve the debt of these countries (…) and encourage them to produce more for themselves“.