How to Prevent a Meltdown of the Global Food System

Article | Published on ForeignPolicy.com

Photo by Alan Godfrey on Unsplash

By Ertharin Cousin,  Devry Boughner Vorwerk, and  Matthias Berninger | Published: April 18, 2023

Last year, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the world feared a collapse of the global food system. The war did end up triggering a food crisis, leading to rising hunger and soaring food prices. Yet one of the bright spots of 2022 was that the international community came together to prevent a full-blown meltdown of the world’s food system. In short, 2022 was bad, but it could have been much worse.

Unfortunately, the food crisis is not just last year’s problem. International efforts after the invasion were a stopgap solution, and one year on, the world is one major crop failure or natural disaster away from a food system meltdown. As local food systems remain fragile, the world must come together once again to address the current humanitarian crisis. This time, even more action and financial support are needed. If countries dependent on food aid are not given the resources to become viable agricultural producers, the global food system may collapse.