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"The country's food supply chain is falling apart. Movements of
goods have slowed down due to insecurity and the reluctance of
drivers," Jakob Kern, WFP Emergency Coordinator for the Ukraine
crisis, told a Geneva press briefing by videolink from Poland.
He also expressed concern about the situation in "encircled
cities" such as Mariupol, saying that food and water supplies
were running out and that its convoys had been unable to enter
the city.
WFP buys nearly half of its wheat supplies from Ukraine and Kern
said that the crisis there since the Russian invasion on Feb. 24
had pushed up food prices sharply.
"With global food prices at an all-time high, WFP is also
concerned about the impact of the Ukraine crisis on food
security globally, especially hunger hot spots," he said,
warning of "collateral hunger" in other places.
The agency is paying $71 million a month extra for food this
year due to both inflation and the Ukraine crisis, he said,
adding that such an amount would cover the food supplies for 4
million people. "We are changing suppliers now but that has an
impact on prices," he said. "The further away you buy it, the
more expensive it gets."
(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Barbara
Lewis)
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