WFP Director: El Nio Combined with War Impacts Is Giving Rise to a "Slow-Burning" Food Crisis

Jean-Martin Bauer, Director of the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Division at the United Nations World Food Programme, said in an exclusive interview that the world is no longer facing an isolated, short-lived food crisis, but a structural problem continually exacerbated by war, pandemics, energy shocks and extreme weather. "The global food system is more vulnerable to systemic disruptions than in the past, and we must prepare for a world in which such crises become the norm." What we are now seeing is a "slow-burning" crisis. It first affects energy and fertilizer, and then gradually transmits to agricultural production. The impact of rising fuel and fertilizer costs on crop production will further manifest as higher food prices. At the same time, some regions are also facing drought and abnormal precipitation, with insufficient rainfall in parts of East and Central Africa being particularly worrying.