A recent report by the World Bank suggested that a number of countries around the world continue to face extremely high, double digit or even triple digit, food price inflation that is pushing millions of people toward malnutrition or even starvation. The world has been battling high food price inflation for more than two years, fueled first by supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and exacerbated in the past year by the Russia-Ukraine war, which has not only affected supplies of fertilizers and other products used in agricultural processes, but also of cereals, of which both Russia and Ukraine are among the biggest global producers and exporters. Though the 10 countries worst affected by rising food prices are spread across the world, most of them, unsurprisingly, are among the poorest countries that were already facing chronic food shortages, malnutrition and even starvation. The southern African nation of Zimbabwe tops the list, with a 285 percent increase in food prices in the past year, the highest in the world. Zimbabwe has been struggling to feed its population for the past decade or more, as former President Robert Mugabe’s economic and political policies disrupted the country’s agriculture in ways from which it has yet to recover, even though he lost power more than five years ago. Second on the list is Venezuela, another country that has been facing socioeconomic and political turmoil for more than a decade, and has recorded a 158 percent increase in food prices. It is followed by Lebanon, the “sick man” of the Middle East, which has had a troubled history for more than half a century. The list goes on. Two of the countries among the 10 are relatively well off: Argentina and Turkiye. They are facing high levels of food inflation mainly as a result of controversial, even contrarian, policies adopted by their political leaderships. The rising cost of food has also led to a severe cost-of-living crisis in many parts of the world, again especially in poor countries, where food is the largest component of household expenses. According to economic forecasts, food inflation and the related cost-of-living crisis is expected to continue throughout this year. The situation is expected to ease later — if no other crisis comes along and, most importantly, if Mother Nature does not play havoc with major producing countries, where climate change is one of the main and fastest growing reasons for poor agricultural output. So severe is the crisis that a report published by the World Economic Forum this year listed the high cost of living as the biggest threat to the world not only in 2023 but 2024 as well. A staggering 1.3 billion tons of still-edible food was wasted worldwide in 2022, enough to feed tens of millions of people for months. Ranvir S. Nayar Seeing little chance of a turnaround or improvement in the situation any time soon, many countries have started taking steps to protect themselves from the effects of the global food crisis. According to the World Bank, as of December last year, 27 major food producers had either imposed blanket bans on exports or severe restrictions, such as minimum prices, to discourage exports. But this approach, in which each nation looks out only for its own people, is not the way out of the crisis. Certainly, it is a huge crisis that affects practically every country and there are no easy solutions. But the world needs to come up with a concerted, if not united, approach to resolving the challenges facing humanity, and especially the tens of millions of the most vulnerable people who are currently facing life-long consequences of the food crisis, if not death by starvation. The soon-to-step down World Bank chief, David Malpass, has tried to outline some potential solutions for the global community, with the onus mainly on rich nations and countries with large farming industries. He has called for concerted efforts to increase energy and fertilizer supplies worldwide and to help farmers increase crop planting and yields. He has also asked for removal of harmful policies, such as export bans and the diversion of food crops for the production of biofuel. In May last year, the World Bank announced a $30 billion package to help needy countries take steps to boost food supplies and production. It is still much too early to know how those funds have been disbursed and used, and what the likely outcome of these measures will be. However, it is clear that much more needs to be done. The problems are so severe, so numerous and affect so many communities worldwide that much more than $30 billion is needed to provide the help that is required, given that more than 730 million people are living in extreme poverty and about 850 million face malnutrition, based on the latest available data. Therefore, $30 billion is likely to be a drop in the ocean compared with the needs that we face. Besides providing financial aid, the world can help by taking action to reduce food waste. Despite growing awareness of this issue, it remains a huge problem and food that is routinely thrown away in many countries could easily have provided meals for many people in others. According to a report by the Food and Agricultural Organization, a staggering 1.3 billion tons of still-edible food was wasted worldwide in 2022, enough to feed tens of millions of people for months. Another major challenge, and a tough one, is the diversion of food crops to produce biofuel. Studies suggest about 4 percent of farmland and 4 percent of water used by farmers is devoted to crops used in the manufacture of biofuel. While this is certainly important for sustainability efforts, every kilo of food used in its production could have helped a human being survive. There are no obvious answers to this conundrum but they must be found because more and more companies are using farmed crops to produce biofuel, which has led to further price increases and food shortages. • Ranvir S. Nayar is managing editor of Media India Group.