Richer countries like Canada must deliver proactive aid: head of UN rural food agency
CTV
The head of a UN agency working to shore up rural food systems says richer countries need to boost proactive aid to developing states, as Ottawa increasingly shifts its focus to humanitarian support for crises that have already happened.
The head of a UN agency working to shore up rural food systems says richer countries need to boost proactive aid to developing states, as Ottawa increasingly shifts its focus to humanitarian support for crises that have already happened.
"We continue going from food crisis to food crisis," Alvaro Lario, head of the International Fund of Agricultural Development, said during a recent visit to Ottawa.
"If we don't invest now, very likely we will go through the same issues in the next shock, whether it's because of a climate shock, an income shock or a pandemic."
IFAD is a financial institution focused on rural farmers around the world, while the better-known Food and Agriculture Organization co-ordinates technical knowledge and research.
The agency goes through a replenishment exercise every three years, making this the first time IFAD is seeking funds after the COVID-19 pandemic jostled global economies and supply chains. It comes after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has led to soaring food crises in many Asian and African countries that rely on imported grain from that region.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh said last year that because of the war, "the price of all the essential and non-essential goods and services has been spiralling, and mounting pressure (has) pinched every class of people" in the country.
Egypt, the world's biggest importer of wheat, had its annual urban consumer inflation rate hit 32.7 per cent in March, and internal Canadian briefing notes show the country has asked Ottawa for help securing grain.
