The World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s yearly Spring Meetings kicked off here in Washington, D.C. this week, although with little of the pre-pandemic fanfare. The world’s financial elite have a lot on their menu, and the rising costs of food, fuel, and fertilizer have already been central to discussions.
Finance ministers seek to address what World Bank President David Malpass called the “severe overlapping crises” of COVID-19, inflation, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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Lower-income countries are hit harder by the sudden price increases for key goods such as energy, fertilizer, and food, and the bank estimates show that for each 1 percentage point increase in food prices, 10 million people fall into extreme poverty worldwide.
“Food crises are bad for everyone, but they're devastating for the poorest and most vulnerable,” Malpass said in opening remarks Monday. “There are two reasons. First, the world's poorest countries tend to be food importing countries. Second, food accounts for at least half of total expenditures in household budgets in low-income countries, so it hits them hardest.”
Malpass denounced high import and export tariffs, export bans, quotas, and “expensive” food price subsidies while also calling for the global community to do more to address rising food insecurity. The bank is providing $17 billion each year, which Malpass called “a big part of the global effort.”
In a statement last week, Malpass and the heads of IMF, WFP, and WTO said that assistance needs to be provided to food-insecure countries in “a coordinated manner” and that the institutions would work together to address the crisis.
My colleague Shabtai Gold is following the meetings this week, and he tells me he doesn’t expect any silver bullets to appear and solve the dire situation. Shabtai says the best the bank and IMF can do in the short run will be Band-Aid fixes, but in the longer term, they can work on building resilience and strengthening systems. “There are just a lot of shocks at once,” he says.
World Bank: Food prices up 37%, middle-income nations in crosshairs
+ What do you think? What concrete steps should the world financial leaders take this week to ease the pain of the food crisis? Share your thoughts with me at dish@devex.com.
Mission accomplished
On Friday, WFP reported that 50 trucks filled with humanitarian supplies reached Mekele, the capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region. The convoy included 1,000 metric tons of wheat and pulses, as well as 700 metric tons of health, nutrition, and WASH items, plus 115,000 liters of fuel. WFP said distribution of supplies would start soon and reach 43,000 people with emergency food relief and 24,000 mothers and children with nutritionally fortified food.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the delivery of the aid and said the U.S. reiterates “the importance of significant, sustained, unconditional, and unhindered humanitarian access to Tigray.”
Also last week, Ethiopia was elected to WFP’s executive board — and Twitter users were quick to point out the irony.
No time to lose
FAO renewed its appeal for Ukraine on Tuesday, recognizing that its initial $50 million request would not be enough to help the country and the world avoid a large-scale food crisis. The organization is calling for $115.4 million to support almost 1 million people in farming households in Ukraine through the end of the year.
“As food access, production and overall food availability deteriorate in many parts of Ukraine as a result of the war, efforts to bolster agricultural production and the functioning of food supply chains will be critical to averting a food crisis in 2022 and into 2023,” said Rein Paulsen, FAO’s director of emergencies and resilience. He said the immediate concern is supporting the spring planting season and preventing disruption of the winter crop harvest that is expected in June and July.
In an address to the 169th session of FAO's council earlier this month, Qu Dongyu, the agency’s director-general, said he is concerned that disruptions will also stretch into the next planting season, which puts global food security in an even more precarious position.
Number munching
$6.3 million
—That’s how much a new USAID-sponsored public-private partnership will invest in “sustainable blue economies through scalable market-based aquaculture of seaweed and sea cucumber.” Announced last week at the Our Ocean conference, the partnership between USAID Madagascar, Ocean Farmers, and Indian Ocean Trepang will also support “community-based sustainable management of marine resources.”
My colleague Catherine Cheney tuned in to the conference and reports that only 4% to 12% of ocean philanthropy goes toward sustainably managing territorial seas, even though they contain all the world’s mangroves, seagrasses, and kelp forests, as well as most of its coral reefs — which provide essential habitat for thousands of species, prevent erosion and protect the land, and serve as carbon sinks, clearing the air by absorbing and storing the carbon dioxide that contributes to climate change.
Read: How to protect, and why to prioritize, coastal waters
ICYMI: Can seaweed fix the food system? This global coalition thinks so
Food first
My colleague Miguel Antonio Tamonan took a look at where things stand with Afghanistan funding — and not surprisingly, food-related activities ranked among donor’s top priorities. WFP received $419.5 million out of $1.1 billion committed through an OCHA flash appeal. WFP saw an additional $143.3 million from a humanitarian response plan that went toward agriculture, food security, and nutrition. Devex Pro subscribers can read the full breakdown.
Funding insights: What’s the state of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan (Pro)
+ Want to uncover funding opportunities and get early insights on funding activities? Start your five-day free trial of Pro Funding. Or if you’re part of a team that can benefit from these, sign up or upgrade to Devex Pro Funding for Organizations.
Chew on this
Mistrust is a large constraint of farmers’ adoption of digital technologies. [OECD]
The U.N. is disbursing $100 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to “hunger hotspots” in Africa and the Middle East. [OCHA]
It could take three weeks for the supply chain to recover after Texas imposed delays at the U.S.-Mexico border to protest immigration policy, leaving agricultural imports to rot. [CNN]
About the author
Teresa Welshtmawelsh
Teresa Welsh is a Senior Reporter at Devex. She has reported from more than 10 countries and is currently based in Washington, D.C. Her coverage focuses on Latin America; U.S. foreign assistance policy; fragile states; food systems and nutrition; and refugees and migration. Prior to joining Devex, Teresa worked at McClatchy's Washington Bureau and covered foreign affairs for U.S. News and World Report. She was a reporter in Colombia, where she previously lived teaching English. Teresa earned bachelor of arts degrees in journalism and Latin American studies from the University of Wisconsin.
