The world is facing one storm after another, with climate change and war intensifying on the one hand, and the end result is increasing poverty, hunger, disease and death, the UN food chief warns.

Fertilizer export restrictions have reduced food production. He appealed to the donors, especially the millionaires and the Gulf countries, to give them a few days of profit to deal with this crisis. He made this request with the aim of preventing widespread food shortages next year.

Otherwise, the world will be in chaos, World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley said in an interview.

Beasley said that when he took the helm of WFP five and a half years ago, only 80 million people around the world were headed towards starvation.

But climate problems increased that number to 135 million. The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in early 2020, doubled it to 276 million people not knowing where their next meal was coming from. Finally, Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, sparking a war and a food, fertilizer and energy crisis that has pushed the number to 345 million.

"50 million people in 45 countries are on the brink of starvation," Beasley said. "If we don't reach these people, there will be hunger, poverty and instability in countries unlike what we saw in 2007-2008 and 2011, and the result will be mass migration."

'We have to start working now.'

Beasley is meeting world leaders and speaking at events during this week's General Assembly of Leaders meeting to raise awareness of the food crisis.

Grain exports from Ukraine, a country that produces enough food to feed 400 million people, have been forced to halt because of the war. And exports from Russia, the world's second-largest fertilizer exporter and major food producer have also been sharply cut.

Donor fatigue often undermines aid, especially in crises like Haiti. Inflation is a serious problem, driving up prices and affecting poor people who can't afford it because COVID-19 has "crushed them financially."

Hence, mothers are unable to decide whether to buy food or to buy things to survive the cold.

With the current fertilizer crisis and drought, we face a food price problem in 2022, says Beasley.

Beasley explained that the world now produces enough food to feed more than 7.7 billion people in the world, but 50% of that food is because farmers use fertilizer. They can't get those high yields without it. China, the world's top fertilizer producer, has banned its export; Russia, which is number two, is struggling to get it to world markets.

 Fertilizer exports have been disrupted, putting the food sector in Asia and Africa in crisis. Everyone has seeds in their fields but they don't get enough fertilizer to produce the proper fruit.

He said the July deal to ship Ukrainian grain from three Black Sea ports is a start, but "we've got to get the grains moving, we've got to get the fertilizer out there for everybody, and we need to end the wars .”

“Even if you don't give it to me, even if you don't give it to the World Food Program, get in the game. "Get into the game of love your neighbour and help your neighbour," Beasley said. “People are suffering and dying all over the world. When a child dies of starvation every five seconds, we need to keep our heads down."

Beasley said the United States has committed an additional $5 billion to food security, and Germany, France and the European Union are also stepping up. However, he asked the Gulf countries to help especially Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia, as oil prices are very high.