US-Hosted Food Security Ministerial To Identify Countries To Fill Gap - Envoy To UN

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th May, 2022) The global food security ministerial to take place in New York later this week will identify countries who are able to bridge the food gap in the world, Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Monday.

"Part of the reason we are hosting this meeting that Secretary (of State Antony) Blinken will be chairing on (May) 18, is to bring countries together to look at what countries might be able to help to fill the gap," Thomas-Greenfield told reporters.

The United States is "clearly" among those countries, she added.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Russia and Ukraine were among the top global exporters of various types of staple foods, including wheat and corn, in 2021, while Russia was also the leading exporter of nitrogen fertilizers, the second major supplier of potassium fertilizers and the third largest supplier of phosphorous fertilizers.

Western sanctions on Russia have undermined the latter's sales of agricultural products abroad and prompted Moscow to retaliate by freezing fertilizer exports. As a result, the global food prices hit the highest ever levels in March, while the International Monetary Fund warned in April that global food prices will likely rise further in the future due to the conflict in Ukraine, sanctions against Russia and Belarus, as well as climate issues.