The Secretary General of Welthungerhilfe, Mathias Mogge, warns of the danger that the war in Ukraine will lead to famine worldwide. “Countries like Egypt, Kenya, South Sudan, Lebanon and many other countries have so far been directly or indirectly heavily dependent on Russian and Ukrainian exports,” the German agricultural engineer told the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” over the weekend. “These countries are now not receiving the quantities ordered or have to pay much more for it.”
In addition, food prices had already risen to an all-time high before the war due to climate change, conflicts, the corona pandemic and speculation on the world markets, according to Mogge. Those who suffer are particularly poor people who have to spend a large proportion of their disposable income on food.
But the increased prices are also a huge problem for aid organizations such as Welthungerhilfe. “When the UN World Food Program had to cut rations in the refugee camps for Syrian refugees in 2015, this was one of the triggers for the large refugee movements to Europe. We shouldn’t forget that.”