Agriculture committee  Thanks for that. I would say there are a number of mechanisms and tools that bring countries together to discuss that. One is a legacy from the 2008-09 crisis that was started by the G20, called the GAFSP, which is a global assistance facility. That has been active. Both the Americans, Secretary of State Blinken, and the convened countries...

Agriculture committee  Thank you for that. As you can imagine, it's a very delicate negotiation that the UN, the Turks, and then at some point, Russia and Ukraine will need to engage in, if they haven't already, on that. We're watching it very closely, mostly through a G7 working group that I sit on, but also our ambassador in Ukraine will be watching it very closely, as will Ambassador Rae.

Agriculture committee  Thank you for that. I would say that the food crisis is happening now, and it could get much worse as time goes on, particularly if we do not see action on Ukrainian exports but also on Russian exports, which they are restricting. What's the strategy in place for Canada and I think for many other donors?

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much. I couldn't agree more with you, and that's why our response, both before the Ukraine crisis and since, has been to balance our investments. As I've described, we have made significant investments in direct humanitarian assistance in meeting immediate needs, but we also continue to make systemic investments, whether it's in climate-smart agriculture, developing food systems or changing the policy and regulatory environment of countries to reduce barriers in the marketplace.

Agriculture committee  I'm just not understanding. Can you try once more with that question? My apologies.

Agriculture committee  I think you've seen a lot of countries step up. I've described the Canadian response. Certainly the United States has significantly increased its investments, by $11 billion over five years, in food system support, food security and nutrition support around the world. The U.K. has made new investments of $10 million, and Netherlands and Italy have as well.

Agriculture committee  I'm sorry—what do those mean? Can you clarify? Do you mean for Canadian exports?

Agriculture committee  I'll take a quick crack at that, but I also think it's a question that could be addressed to Agriculture officials. With respect to the sanctions on Belarusian potash, Canada, of course, is a major producer and, from what I understand, Canada has increased production of potash and will be opening a new potash mine in response, so where possible you will see Canadian industry doing everything it can to respond to gaps in the marketplace.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. That was an enormously successful matching fund, I think by far the most successful matching fund we've ever done. We put up $30 million, and the Red Cross response more than matched that. I think it ended up at $150 million. At this point there are no plans to launch an additional fund.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. That's an excellent question. There's a classification system that goes from one to five, with five being famine-like conditions. For classifications four and five, that being extreme hunger bordering on famine, we've seen that go from 44 million to 49 million just within the last many months, in large part because of the exacerbation of the food-security crisis.

Agriculture committee  I have not heard any mention of Turkey. Tara can perhaps fill out more here than I can, but I do know that we have sanctions, for example, against Russian ships. Those certainly act as at least a partial deterrent but not a total one.

Agriculture committee  I think the global community has brought the full suite to bear in responding to Russian aggression—military assistance, financial support, sanctions—really the full array of responses. Those particular examples would be very challenging, as repugnant as they are, to respond to.

Agriculture committee  Sure. Thanks very much. It's actually a significant part of our portfolio of investments, especially in Africa but also in other parts of the world. We focus on intensification of agriculture through better fertilizer management, improved soil health and fertility and then the diversification of production.

Agriculture committee  Our starting point in most years before, as I said, either the government provides additional money or we access something called the crisis pool is about $609 million or $610 million. To date we've moved about $514 million of that, with $245 million going to the Ukraine response.

Agriculture committee  Thank you for that question. In the first instance, I think it is fair to say, based on what we've seen of Russian actions in blockading the Ukrainian ports and putting restrictions on its own agricultural products, that it's trying to use food as a tool of war. With respect to the stolen grain, yes, we have seen probably the same evidence you've seen, which the minister refers to, that grain has been stolen and has shown up in Syria and other places.