World leaders seek to address barriers to food

At a special food meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, representatives from the European Union, Africa, and the Americas sought to draw attention to signs that the world’s food supply may face even bigger challenges in the future. They cited climate change, rising prices for energy and fertilizer and poor harvests linked to conflicts, including the one in Ukraine.

“Next year may be even more difficult, looking at the increase in energy and fertilizer prices," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at the meeting.

President Biden is expected to announce a major boost to U.S. food aid at his U.N. speech on Wednesday, officials said. Since Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine, Washington has provided $6.1 billion in humanitarian assistance and $2.3 billion in development aid to fight hunger and bolster food security.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that Washington is working with other members of the U.N. Security Council to ensure that food and medicine are carved out of any sanctions linked to Russia’s invasion or other conflicts, he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putinhas blamed the EU for preventing fertilizer sales and Western nations for favoring their own consumers rather than those in poorer economies. Speaking Tuesday in Moscow, Mr. Putin blamed Western sanctions and the pressure campaign against Russia for any shortages.

“Unfortunately, this strategy harms absolutely innocent nations as well, especially the poorest and most developing countries," he said.

Food has become a central part of Russia’s strategy to curry favor among developing countries amid widespread criticism over its invasion of Ukraine, leading to allegations Moscow has weaponized grain along with energy and other commodities.Russia effectively blockaded Ukraine’s Black Sea ports for months, until a multinational deal spearheaded by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres allowed ships carrying grain to sail in recent weeks.

“The truth is that Putin is trying to blackmail the international community with a large part of the world’s food needs," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told the gathering.

The EU hasn’t sanctioned Russian food and agricultural products, and Brussels further clarified in July to ensure that its measures targeting Russia don’t obstruct the delivery of those products to third countries. Some 28% of the more than three million tons of grain shipped under the agreement has gone to lower-income countries, including Egypt, India and Iran.

Officials worry that export bans, sanctions and other restrictions will tie up food and fertilizer shipments, raising prices and complicating efforts to feed countries that can’t produce or afford the commodities. Over 100 countries have signed a U.S.-led road map that includes avoiding export restrictions.

“What is urgent today is to work together in order to ensure openness and transparency of markets for grains and fertilizers, so that all countries can have access to them in accordance with international trade rules," said the chairman of the African Union, Senegalese President Macky Sall.

Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, told reporters in Washington that the U.S. was working to help the developing world finance its own agricultural systems. “In addition to that, the president will be pressing for the elimination of export bans and of hoarding so that there is a better supply of food to the world market and overall prices come down," he said.

Up to 828 million people face hunger around the world, and 50 million people in 45 countries are on the edge of famine, according to the U.N.’s World Food Program. The invasion of Ukraine and the related disruption in food supplies has put 70 million additional people closer to starvation, according to the program’s executive director.

The U.S. was the biggest donor to the World Food Program last year, supplying $3.8 billion, while Russia was 22nd, supplying $62.6 million, and China was 30th. “Some countries with the capacity to do more are among those doing the least," Mr. Blinken said at the meeting, which didn’t include Russia and China.

The Black Sea shipping disruptions have directly affected food supplies to some of the poorest countries because the World Food Program normally gets the biggest part of its wheat from Ukraine. This week the fourth ship chartered by the U.N. body since the deal went into effect arrived in Odessa to load a grain shipment to support food needs in Afghanistan.

Yet diplomats following the Black Sea grain deal worry that Moscow may not renew it later this year. Mr. Putin is asking to renew the export through Ukraine of Russian ammonia, a key ingredient in some fertilizers.

“It is essential to continue removing all remaining obstacles to the export of Russian fertilizers and their ingredients, including ammonia," Mr. Guterres told the opening of the General Assembly on Tuesday. “These products are not subject to sanctions—and we will keep up our efforts to eliminate indirect effects."

In addition to conflicts and trade barriers, world leaders and U.S. officials are also seeking to draw attention to the connection between global warming and farm yields and also to highlight the greenhouse-gas emissions connected to agriculture.

The health, climate and tax package signed into law by Mr. Biden last month included roughly $20 billion for popular conservation programs run by the U.S. Agriculture Department, but those are voluntary measures and some academics have questioned whether they are the most effective way to curtail the agriculture industry’s emissions.

Conservation groups have emphasized the role agriculture can play in mitigating climate change through steps that include planting cover crops and reducing tillage of fields to keep more carbon in the soil.

Cattle farmers are also facing pressure to become more sustainable as livestock contribute more than one-quarter of U.S. methane emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Jared Malsin, Catherine Lucey, Kristina Peterson contributed to this article.