Conflict may increase number of people facing hunger globally by 50 mn: WFP

Rome, June 3 (UNI/Sputnik) World Food Programme executive director David Beasley said on Friday that the conflict in Ukraine could drive the number of people on the brink of starvation globally to 323 million this year.
“We’re facing unprecedented challenges to global food security. In the past year alone, conflict, the climate crisis, Covid and rising costs have pushed 276 million people to the brink of starvation. If the Ukraine war doesn’t end soon, that number could rise to 323 million people,” he wrote on social media.
Ukraine and Russia account for almost a third of the world’s wheat and barley production and half of its sunflower oil. The West has accused Russia of stopping grain exports from Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly rejected this claim, stressing that seaports will be reopened as soon as Ukrainian naval mines are cleared.