Global Food Security Challenges: COVID-19, Climate Change, Conflict, Pandemics, Ukraine War Focus

• The term food security belongs to the detriment of death linked to malnutrition, and people do not have sufficient access to food for proper life because of physical, social, and economic barriers [1].
• The Russia-Ukraine crisis is threatening global food security, especially in the Black Sea Region. These two countries have a high percentage of trading wheat, maize, and sunflower, which makes this region important [2].
• During the twentieth century, it has been estimated that every year approximately thirty billion tons of CO2 enter the atmosphere, producing global warming and increasing environmental disasters such as floods, storms, and droughts [3].
• G7 countries are the largest emitters of CO2 [4]. During 2021, major economies contributing 67.8% to global emissions (China, USA, EU-27, India, Russia, and Japan) showed an increase in their CO2 emissions compared to 2020 [5].
• Despite all the procedures that countries and the UN have implemented over the years, some gaps remain, and countries should consider these problems carefully. We suggest adding barriers to People’s access to food should be considered a war crime, and the United Nations Security Council should handle these crises carefully. Crises are referred to as wars and pandemics like COVID-19. Here are some examples from different articles showing that these problems remain.
• Disruptions in production and trade during the Russia-Ukraine war threaten the supply of grain, and an immediate surge in global food and fertilizer prices is a major risk. Hence, this caused a significant increase in prices immediately after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The FAO Food Prices Index (FFPI) reached the highest level since 1990. This crisis and the associated sanctions on Russia and Belarus have also caused disruptions in fertilizer supplies, which increased fertilizer prices [2].
• The government of Egypt has a special program to import 73 percent of its wheat annually, and after the outbreak of the war, wheat and food prices increased significantly. Food price inflation reached a five-year high record of 31 percent in 2022 [2].
• The implementation of COVID-19 restrictions increased the loss of employment, which increased the capacity of vulnerable populations to access food from regular channels, including restaurants, street vendors, and school-based food programs [6].
• Socioeconomic drivers, such as human population density, antibiotic drug use, and agricultural practices, are major determinants of the spatial distribution of EID events, in addition to the ecological or environmental conditions that may affect overall (emerging and non-emerging) human pathogen distribution [7].

References

1. Panchal N, Kamal R, Orgera K, et al. (2023) The implications of COVID-19 for mental health and substance use. KFC. 21: 1-16.

2. Abay KA, Breisinger C, Glauber J, et al. (2023) The Russia-Ukraine war: Implications for global and regional food security and potential policy responses. Global Food Security. 36: 100675.

3. Wahaj Z, Alam MM, Al-Amin AQ. (2022) Climate change and COVID-19: shared challenges, divergent perspectives, and proposed collaborative solutions. Environ Sci Pollut Res. 29: 16739-16748.

4. Ișik C, Ahmad M, Pata UK, et al. (2020) An Evaluation of the tourism-induced environmental Kuznets curve (T-EKC) hypothesis: Evidence from G7 Countries. Sustainability. 12.

5. Crippa M, Guizzardi D, Banja M, et al. (2022) CO₂ emissions of all world countries. JRC Science for Policy Report.

6. Garba NA, Sacca L, Clarke RD, et al. (2022) Addressing Food Insecurity during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Intervention Outcomes and Lessons Learned from a Collaborative Food Delivery Response in South Florida’s Underserved Households. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 19: 8130.

7. Jones KE, Patel NG, Levy MA, et al. (incomplete reference — please provide the remaining text if you'd like me to finish formatting this one).