David Beasley, the Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), spoke to WION on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
Weighing in on the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, Beasley talked about the humanitarian aid to Syria which has been politicised by some.
He said, “You got to reach everybody in need doesn’t matter where they are. So we at WFP reached about 800,000 in Turkey and 200,000 people in Syria. The Syrian government has been working with us on access cross border.”
“We are struggling to a certain degree with regard to north-west Syrian authorities. We are working on that. We need to reach everybody because a lot of people are suffering,” he added.
Beasley on global food crisis due to war
On being asked about the Russia-Ukraine war, Beasley talked about the global food crisis caused by the war.
He said, “Whole world is struggling with food right now it’s going to get worst. The bread basket of the world is Ukraine and it grows wheat for 300 to 400 million people.”
“Last year Ukraine had fertiliser, But this year they don’t have fertiliser so we have multiple crises with respect to Ukraine,”‘ he added.
“Grain production can be substantially low this year in Ukraine. Ships and trucks are not moving like they need to move We got food security crisis around the world,” he further said.
Beasley on Pakistan’s situation
He said, “WFP has been on the ground with regards to Pakistan. The flood has affected a lot of people, and it has also impacted grain production immediately and that is a serious issue we don’t want to happen in terms of the global production of food.”
“Because We going to run out of food in the end of 2023, so we need Pakistan to be back in the game like they need to be,” he added.
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