Article Author:
Reuters
Suleiman Al-Khalidi
Amman — The international food crisis, exacerbated by the Ukraine war, prompted Canada to spend $6 billion annually to help those most in need. spurred an increase in the foreign aid budget exceeding Canada's aid minister said Thursday it hit countries in Africa and the Middle East.
"The Ukrainian crisis is causing shockwaves in his supply chain, especially food security, affecting the most vulnerable people in the most difficult times," said Canada's Minister for International Development. His Harjit Sajjan said.
"We are making adjustments to reflect this...People are going hungry because food prices have gone up," Sajjan told Reuters. A tour that also takes him to Egypt and Lebanon.
Although he did not disclose the amount of new aid, the Ottwa-based Canadian International Development Platform said foreign aid last year increased by 27% to about $6.6 billion. .
The United Nations said the spillover effects of the war in Ukraine, which caused food, fuel and fertilizer prices to rise, could exacerbate the global food crisis caused by conflict, climate shocks and the COVID-19 pandemic. It states that
Her more than 50 million people in East Africa will face severe food insecurity this year, according to new research supported by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). .
Ms Sajjan said Canada is stepping up her assistance to the WFP. WFP's annual need reaches a record high of $22.2 billion without compromising other development programs.
"We are stepping up our support to the Middle East region when it comes to food," he said, citing Lebanon as an example, which is heavily dependent on wheat from Ukraine and is facing bread shortages.
He described an agreement brokered by the United Nations and Turkey between Russia and Ukraine last month to lift grain export blocks from Black Sea ports as a positive step, but so far It said the meager shipments were not enough to mitigate the crisis.
Canada is also looking at ways to improve the resilience of African countries, noting in particular the shortage of food stores on the continent. (Reporting by Suleiman Al Khalidi; Editing by Francis Kelly)
