High-level ceremony for the launch of the 8th edition of the Global Report on Food Crises 2024 Statement

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

Congratulations to all those who contributed to this new detailed report, which outlines the historical comparison between now and 2016 and provides some impressive conclusions.

As a scientist, we know that you need an analytic, consistent comparison, not just based on annual figures – this gives us a more powerful wakeup call!

In that, I really congratulate the team for this scientific data-based report.

The data and the numbers however are not 100 percent covered, especially with regard to Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) levels two and three as they do not cover the real situation at the global level.

The report only covers 59 countries, which is not fully representative.

Furthermore, some countries are more populated; and in some countries the food price crisis is intense and has become more challenging, which in some countries is due to a man-made crisis and in others due to natural disaster.

You need to elaborate on this aspect to ensure more comprehensive results.

Also, regarding food security I always mention three important dimensions:

First, food availability.

Second, food accessibility.

And, more importantly at the global level, food affordability.

Food affordability applies to any individual or entity on this planet; it is a shared common task.

Food availability sometimes depends on the countries’ productivity, while accessibility is more large-scale, cross-country, and dependent on smooth international trade or local logistics.

However, food affordability in every country should be addressed.

I strongly encourage you to elaborate on this dimension in the next report, to get a more realistic global scenario.

Another comment I wish to make, and as you rightly pointed out, Gaza is the most severe food crisis in our reporting history and the situation is extremely concerning.

But not only in Gaza, also in Haiti. The world seems to have forgotten about Haiti, that is why I always advocate for it.

And in Afghanistan, which I see was addressed, but we must remember to not let international headlines influence our reporting.

And in Sudan, in Yemen, and in Somalia, among others.

There are the top ten hunger hotspots where we should continue to report on through data-driven monitoring. This is the professional, technical approach to be followed.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

When farmers and fishers lack the means to produce food this affects food availability, leading to people, and children in particular, at risk of starvation.

While the assistance needed to save lives awaits on the other side of the border due to the lack of humanitarian access, and emergency response.

We need a more cost-effective approach.

There are three alternatives:

First, and most importantly, the humanitarian response.

Second, urgency response that supports agricultural inputs, seeds, and fertilizers to allow them to produce locally.

Third, we need to build the local community, no matter the aid or emergency perspective.

If we do not depend on the local community, all these approaches will not be effective.

We are witnessing this clearly in countries like Burkina Faso, Mali, the Sudan, South Sudan, and Somalia, as well as Haiti.

Where small-scale farmers - who are producing the needed food - are the ones facing acute food insecurity.

Last year, at least two-thirds of those facing acute food insecurity were people living in rural areas.

Yet, just a fraction of humanitarian aid is allocated to protect agricultural livelihoods.

We are seeing improvements in the flow of funding into countries like Afghanistan – where a large increase in funding for emergency agricultural interventions contributed to an 11 percent decrease in rural food insecurity since 2022.

The situation remains daunting, but the numbers are going in the right direction.

We must step-up our fight against hunger.

What is the action we need, based on these different approaches?

I would say that first it is humanitarian aid in the short-term.

In the mid-term - when we talk about one season longer - we need more investment in agriculture productivity. We need to create food availability locally.

Third, we need to introduce new varieties because in any country, especially poor countries, and vulnerable areas, the most effective amongst agricultural inputs is seeds - high quality seeds are essential for new resilient crops.

That is why we are going to support a number of initiatives in Member countries for resistance improvement to biotic and abiotic stresses such as the VACS initiative, as well as transported diseases, where we can reduce food loss from damages caused by diseases and pests.

I think it is critical that we understand how this trend develops and persists, and the work done by the Global Network Against Food Crisis, particularly around data and solutions, is extremely important.

FAO is willing to provide the technical support needed, but I also strongly encourage you to work more coherently with other relevant reports.

I know that in this world there are so many reports from different angles, such as for example the State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) Report that FAO leads, but although different reports set out different perspectives, we should maintain common consensus on the data.

Otherwise, for non-agricultural people, more reports might create more dissenting information and we should avoid this.

For that, FAO is, as I have already said so many times, focused on working with a good strategy and good action on the ground, and more importantly, with science and innovation.

We don’t just need basic research, but also extension and pragmatic research – and technology is of primary importance.

We will continue to work together with partners such as the G20 and others, as well as regional and sub-regional bodies, our sister agencies in Rome and other international agencies across the continents.

With that, I wish you all the best.

We must walk the talk, not just talk!

Thank you.