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Ammon News - Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa, AbdulHakim Elwaer, on Wednesday warned that the acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further due to the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Elwaer said that the Russia-Ukraine war is having an outsized impact on the global supply chain, causing currency fluctuations, fueling cost increases, impeding the flow of goods, and creating food shortages around the world, Petra reported.

"Many western countries are adopting austerity measures in a proactive step to avert the global food security crisis, mainly as a response to the increase of food prices imposed by the corona pandemic, the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the global economic recession," he added.

At the same time, he further said, the rise in food prices may have a positive impact on the food security equation when it comes to food wastage, indicating that when food becomes of great value, individuals do not overuse it, as reported by Petra.

As for the situation in the Arab world, the FAO official noted that the Arab region consists of mainly arid, semi-arid, and dry areas, with limited water resources and arable lands, not to mention the climate change and its consequences; such as the reduction of precipitation, the increasing temperatures, and the severe drought.

"These consequences exacerbated the challenges related to water scarcity and low soil productivity, and in turn increased concerns about regional food security" he added.

Elwaer also referred to Jordan’s experience in food security and climate change, noting that despite the lack of resources and being the second host country of refugees per capita in the world, the Kingdom managed to actively be resilient to food-related risks by launching a National Plan for Sustainable Agriculture.

"Jordan has also launched a food security dashboard, to follow up indicators and monitor food security situations internationally, regionally and locally, and thus take the necessary measures for a rapid response," he said, indicating that the FAO food and agriculture statistics collects and disseminates timely and reliable food and agricultural statistics globally, to develop policies and strategies and avoid crises in the short, medium and long term.