As we reported earlier, World Bank President David Malpass has warned of a "human catastrophe" as food prices rise sharply in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Like the Covid-19 pandemic, he said, the food crisis would hit the poorest people in the world the hardest because they will “eat less and have less money for anything else, such as schooling".
In an interview with BBC economics editor Faisal Islam, Malpass said that global food stockpiles are large by historical standards and there is enough food in the world to feed everybody - but there will have to be a process put in place to get the food to those most in need.
The World Bank chief also raised concerns of a knock on “crisis within a crisis” arising from the inability of developing countries to service their large pandemic debts amid rising food and energy prices.
“As many as 60% of the poorest countries right now are either in debt distress or at high risk of being in debt distress," he said.
He advised countries, particularly those with unsustainable debt, to act early on strategies to reduce their debt burden.
