''Another perfect storm?''
How the failure to reform food systems has allowed the war in Ukraine to spark a third global food price crisis in 15 years, and what can be done to prevent the next one
The Special Report ‘’Another perfect storm?’’ of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) takes stock of the impacts of the Ukraine crisis on global food security. It identifies underlying vulnerabilities and rigidities in terms of food production patterns and import dependencies, in a context of declining international solidarity and systematic climate-induced supply strains. It also identifies grain hoarding and commodity speculation as key factors in turning the current shocks into a full-blown food price crisis. A number of these structural weaknesses were already identified following the 2007-2008 food price crisis but were essentially left unaddressed. The Special Report warns against opportunistic and shortsighted responses to the crisis, including backsliding on food system reform commitments. It calls instead for urgent action to support food-importing countries (including through debt relief); tackle commodity speculation and enhance market transparency; reduce reliance on fertilizers and fossil energy in food production; accelerate the development of regional grain reserves and food security response systems, and diversify food production and restructure trade flows. Although the Special Report does not discuss in detail the critical food security situation within Ukraine or in the world's many conflict zones, it highlights the vicious cycles of climate change, conflict, poverty, and food insecurity that are leaving millions of people highly vulnerable to shocks. This makes it all the more critical to act now to rebuild food security on a new and lasting basis. Failure to do so means sleepwalking into the catastrophic and systematic food crises of the future.
The expert panel calls for urgent action to:
- Provide financial assistance and debt relief to vulnerable countries
- Crackdown on commodity speculation
- Build regional grain reserves and a global food aid apparatus fit for the protracted crises societies face
- Diversify food production and trade systems
- Rebuild resilience and cut harmful dependencies through diversity and agroecology.
