His Excellency the Minister of Finance, Mr. Mohammed bin Abdullah AlJadaan, stressed that the G20 should call on all countries and international organizations to unite their efforts to tackle food insecurity that threatens millions around the world.
During his participation in the high-level seminar on enhancing global collaboration to tackle food insecurity, which is co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and the Indonesian G20 Presidency on July 15 in Indonesia, AlJadaan said: "the experience with Covid-19, the worst health crisis in human history, has proven that global collaboration and cooperation are the key to success in controlling global crises, and we must stand united once again in addressing the issue of food insecurity," referring to a number of alarming developments the world is witnessing in the field of food security, which pushed food prices to record levels, including the effects of the war in Ukraine.
He added: “given the developments we are currently witnessing, I fear that, without effective measures, food insecurity will continue to rise, putting more people at risk. In this situation, the G20 simply cannot remain a silent spectator, it must act, and act urgently and decisively. So, the question is: what can the G20 do in terms of concrete actions, and what can we learn from past successes and failures. Drawing upon the expertise of specialized institutions like the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank and the IMF, we can deepen our understanding of the depth and breadth of the food insecurity issue, explore solutions, chart out a plan of concrete actions and define implementation responsibilities.
It is noteworthy that the latest data issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization indicated that about 2.3 billion people, about 30% of the world's population, moderately or severely food insecure in 2021. Among them almost 925 million or 11.7% of the global population are severely food insecure compared to 564 million in 2014. It is estimated that about 670 million people, about 8% of the world's population, will continue to face hunger in 2030. The International Monetary Fund's fertilizer price index jumped by about 120% in April 2022 on an annual basis, making its affordability the least since 2008.