KYIV, April 14 – The leaders of the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Food Program (WFP) of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Wednesday evening called for urgent action to ensure food security.

"Proposed actions to help vulnerable countries include providing emergency food supplies and deploying financial support to households and countries; facilitating unhindered trade; investing in sustainable food production and nutrition security," the leaders said in a joint statement.

World Bank President David Malpass, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, WFP Executive Director David Beasley and WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweila called the international community to support vulnerable countries through grants to cover urgent financing needs ahead of the Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Groupstarting on April 18.

"The world is shaken by compounding crises. The fallout of the war in Ukraine is adding to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that now enters its third year, while climate change and increased fragility and conflict pose persistent harm to people around the globe. Sharply higher prices for staples and supply shortages are increasing pressure on households worldwide and pushing millions more into poverty," they said.

The leaders said that 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.

World Bank estimates warn that for each one percentage point increase in food prices, 10 million people are thrown into extreme poverty worldwide.

"The rise in food prices is exacerbated by a dramatic increase in the cost of natural gas, a key ingredient of nitrogenous fertilizer. Surging fertilizer prices along with significant cuts in global supplies have important implications for food production in most countries, including major producers and exporters, who rely heavily on fertilizer imports," the heads of international organizations added.

In their view, the increase in food prices and supply shocks can fuel social tensions in many of the affected countries, especially those that are already fragile or affected by conflict.

"We call on the international community to urgently support vulnerable countries through coordinated actions ranging from provision of emergency food supplies, financial support, increased agricultural production, and open trade," they said in the statement. (om/ez)