Ex-UN Food Chief Urges Calm as Food Prices Jump Most on Record
Global food prices have surpassed those of the 2008 crisis even though stockpiles are higher, underscoring the need for calm and market transparency as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roils supply chains, the former head of the United Nations’ Food & Agriculture Organization told Bloomberg Television.
Jose Graziano da Silva says the 2008-11 crisis was the worst he ever saw and the world is in a “much more comfortable position” now on food inventories.
If the war drags on and -- in a worst-case scenario -- nations put bans on exports, food prices could surge well over the additional 22% that the UN currently is warning about, he said.
Political and financial instability is driving food prices and there’s a strong need to “calm down the market,” he said. “There is no reason for this spike of prices,” Graziano da Silva added.
