High food prices to force 10M into poverty, US treasury secretary says

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that high food prices could force at least 10 million more people into poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to early estimates.

"Today, Russia's destruction of the Ukrainian economy and its infrastructure is a key factor affecting global commodity prices. The war further exacerbates pre-existing price and food supply pressures," she said on Tuesday at a Treasury Department event on food insecurity.

Yellen noted that before the war, over 800 million people were facing food insecurity, making up 10% of the global population, and stressed that poor nutrition and food insecurity have had serious implications on economic well-being and social and political stability.

"The war has made an already dire situation worse. Price and supply shocks are already materializing, adding to global inflationary pressures, creating risks to external balances, and undermining the recovery from the pandemic," she explained.

Blaming Moscow for rising food prices, Yellen said: "Russia's actions are responsible for this."

The secretary said Russia's war in Ukraine also has a negative impact on climate change goals, making it even more challenging to keep global warming limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

"Europe is currently focused on its plans to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels by diversifying supply chains and doubling down on clean energy investments," she said on Tuesday in her remarks at the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action.

Yellen stressed that renewable energy was key to achieving energy security.

"Our priority -- not only in the United States and Europe, but globally -- should be on increasing deployment of energy efficiency measures, while rapidly scaling up clean energy capacity. And of course, for many emerging markets this must be done while also expanding energy access," she said.