The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes today’s announcement by G7 leaders meeting in Elmau, Germany, that they will provide an additional US$ 4.5 billion to protect the world’s most vulnerable people from hunger and malnutrition.

WFP stands ready to play its part in addressing this global crisis working with the Global Alliance for Food Security (GAFS), the Food and Agriculture Resilience Mission (FARM), and other initiatives while bringing to the table more than 60 years of experience in combatting hunger worldwide.

The world is facing a global hunger crisis of unprecedented proportions. In just two years, the number of severely food insecure people has increased by more than 200 million from 135 million pre-pandemic to 345 million today. Of these, up to 50 million people in 45 countries are teetering on the edge of famine (IPC4).  Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen, South Sudan and Afghanistan are of particular concern.

The crisis, brought on by a combination of climate shocks, the economic impact of COVID, rising food and fuel costs and conflict, has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.

Within this context, WFP is encouraged by the G7 commitment to ensure that trade remains open for food, fuel, and fertilisers, all of which are critical for countries bearing the brunt of the crisis. Likewise, the statement’s focus on building resilience and supporting domestic production in fragile countries is to be welcomed.

The world stands at a critical crossroads. Either we rise to the challenge of meeting immediate needs at scale while at the same time supporting programmes that build long term resilience at scale, or we will face even bigger problems down the line.

Today’s pledge by the G7, which takes its joint commitment this year to over US$ 14 billion to global food security, is an important step towards meeting this challenge.