WASHINGTON: Africa is at the brink of famine and the war in different regions has put millions of lives at risk.
The food basket of the world Ukraine in particular with ongoing war and the grain deal in doldrums a human tragedy is in the fold.
Muslim countries particularly African Arab nation are worst hit by the food crisis and resultantly with scarcity of food the prices have also gone up.
Experts believe United Nations brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative getting collapsed is going to affect food prices globally as the deal allowed grain and fertilizers out of Ukraine despite the Russian blockade.
The world at war is met with climate change and the devastating effect is felt everywhere in the form of heatwaves, floods and extremes in weather patterns. The drought in Africa has resulted in a severe food shortage while in South Asia the excessive rains destroyed the crops.
The countries with weak currencies and staggering economies are faced with imminent disaster.
Cary Fowler a former executive of Global Corp Diversity Trust and expert on food security pointed that over 800 million people are classified food insecure.
He stated the summer of 2023 has been hottest on record and it had caused severe effects on farmers around the world. Asia in particular is affected worst as heat and rain destroyed rice and wheat crop.
Answering a query about Ukraine he revealed that Ukraine has been a bread basket for the world and exported wheat, maize, barley and sunflower oil to the world. It is no secret that out of 196 countries 136 import food. Ukraine sells it grain to developing countries which top the list as these countries are faced with childhood malnutrition and stunted growth.
Muslim countries in particular are faced with this problem and it is very alarming for countries in Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Sharing a brief statistics the food security expert stated the malnutrition rate in Muslim countries particularly in Africa and Asia has Egypt faced with 22 percent followed by 28 percent in Bangladesh, 38 percent in Libya, 31 percent in India, 18 percent in Kenya and 31 percent in Indonesia.
The war in Ukraine has affected all and world food chain is affected.
