Before the Next Shock, the World Needs a ‘Marshall Plan’ for Food Insecurity

Mar 14, 2023 | Adam Gallagher and Arif Husain
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In recent years, the world has seen a host of interconnected challenges, with a crisis in one part of the world setting off epiphenomenal emergencies elsewhere. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cut off many countries from their main supply of wheat and coarse grains, disrupting global food supply chains that were already stressed by the COVID pandemic. This led to further food insecurity in regions of the world, like East Africa, that were already dealing with starvation and malnutrition due, in part, to severe drought brought on by climate change. Meanwhile, in response to inflationary pressures — some of which derived from governments’ response to the pandemic — states around the world sought to tighten monetary policy by raising interest rates. Such financial measures added further burdens to developing countries struggling with high debt loads and currency devaluation.