Yellen Plans Global Food-Crisis Summit as IMF, UN Urge Action

Christopher Condon
Wed, April 13, 2022



(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will convene a meeting of top international financial officials next week to address a global food-security crisis, with the heads of institutions including the IMF urging action to address dire consequences of record price surges caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“With over 275 million people facing acute food insecurity, I am deeply concerned about the impact of Russia’s war on food prices and supply, particularly on poor populations,” Yellen said in a speech to the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington Wednesday.

Next week’s food summit will take place in Washington alongside the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Participants will include ministers representing the G-7 and G-20, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank President David Malpass, according to Treasury spokesperson Alexandra LaManna.

Georgieva, Malpass, United Nations World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley and World Trade Organization Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala issued a joint statement asking the international community to support vulnerable countries through grants to cover urgent financing needs.

‘Increasing Pressure’

High food prices and supply shortages are “increasing pressure on households worldwide and pushing millions more into poverty,” the leaders said, adding that their institutions stand ready to address the crisis. “The threat is highest for the poorest countries with a large share of consumption from food imports, but vulnerability is increasing rapidly in middle-income countries, which host the majority of the world’s poor.”

Speaking in a question-and-answer session after her Atlantic Council speech, Yellen said “this will be an urgent concern for us next week to try and think about how we can stave off starvation around the world.”

Soaring food prices will contribute to sending more than a quarter-billion more people around the world into poverty this year, charity group Oxfam International warned earlier this week.

Ukraine and Russia are among the top five grain exporters, and the war poses a massive blow to both production and shipments, causing food prices to rise at their fastest pace yet. Several countries, including Egypt, Turkey Bangladesh and Iran buy more than 60% of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine, a United Nations report shows.

The Washington confab will discuss “the urgent response to the ongoing food security crisis that has been severely exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” LaManna said.