Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Your study on global food insecurity is timely, because the world is truly in the midst of a serious food crisis.
After decades of steady decline, the trend when it comes to the global hunger problem has reversed since 2015, primarily due to climate change, conflicts, the COVID‑19 pandemic and economic downturns.
In 2020, before Russia invaded Ukraine, food insecurity had already reached record levels. An estimated 800 million people are hungry. Russia's invasion of Ukraine dramatically exacerbated the situation and is proving to be the biggest shock to the global food system since the 2008-09 food crisis. According to the World Bank, an additional 40 million people around the world are at risk of hunger as a result of the invasion.
The Ukrainian minister said how important fertilizer is; this is also a crucial issue. Russia's exports account for 14% of the world's fertilizer exports, and 25 countries are heavily reliant on fertilizer from Russia and Belarus. This, combined with rising fuel prices, has led to significant fertilizer price inflation. Between April 2020 and March 2022, global fertilizer prices rose 220%, their highest two-year increase since 2008.
According to a warning from the African Development Bank, the continent's food production could fall by 20% because African farmers have to pay 300% more for the fertilizers they import.
Together Russia and Ukraine represent about 15% of global cereal exports. Countries face immediate risk due to the disruptions that occurred after the invasion. Many of these countries are already acutely food insecure, like Yemen, Mauritania, Madagascar and many others.
However, beyond the disruption of supplies, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has had a major impact on food prices. Food price inflation is now the major concern as world food prices have reached historic highs, exceeding all previous food crises stretching back to the 1970s. In March global food prices hit the highest level on record. They were 30% higher than they were in January and over 60% higher than they were prior to the start of the pandemic.
The World Bank estimates that each percentage point increase in food prices means that we have 10 million more people in extreme poverty worldwide. Food insecurity and malnutrition are reaching untenable levels in regions and countries such as the Sahel, Yemen, Sudan, and Haiti.
Rising food prices could also trigger a new wave of political instability, and the minister noted that the recent unrest and demonstrations in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Tunisia, Sudan, Iraq and Peru are linked in part to the worsening food crisis.
Russia bears particular responsibility for the global food security crisis. It has attacked one of the breadbaskets of the world, destroying Ukraine's capacity to supply the world with key agricultural commodities such as wheat, sunflower oil, sunflower seeds and barley. Before the war, Ukraine exported 95% of its grain via the Black Sea. Russia is blockading Ukraine's ports from being able to export grains and other goods and is also shelling the rail lines that are being used to reach alternate ports in Romania and elsewhere.
Russia is also restricting access to its own agricultural commodities and fertilizers. The Russian invasion has underscored the need to ensure that Canada and other donors not only provide short-term humanitarian assistance to respond to this crisis but that we also need to enhance our efforts to make food systems more resilient in the face of climate change, conflict and other shocks.
In 2021 Canada's support for sustainable agriculture and food systems reached its highest level in decades. This increase was driven by large-scale investments in agriculture and food systems through our climate finance program, working with organizations such as the FAO and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
The current crisis has put food security at the top of international discussions. We are coordinating within the G7 and other multilateral fora to ensure a coherent and coordinated response with other partners.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.