Another warning that the world is facing a serious episode of famine has come, this time, from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

According to Ms Mirjana Spoljaric, the ICRC president, “an enormous level of suffering” awaits the world in 2023 with famine spreading.

Ms Spoljaric, who issued the warning at a news conference in Geneva last Wednesday, said the ICRC doesn’t see any easing of the humanitarian pressures.

“There is a possibility that we will see very high levels of hunger in many parts of the world and insecurity in general,” she said, adding that not only will food prices be high, food will “simply not be available in the same amounts due to a lack of fertilisers and due to, again, the impact of climate change”.

While Ms Spoljaric’s central focus was on the Horn of Africa where approximately 20 million people are reported to be suffering from malnutrition, we in this region cannot ignore her warning.

Just last Tuesday the United Nations (UN) reported that rising food prices in Latin America and the Caribbean caused the number of people going hungry in the region to rise by more than 13 million between 2019 and 2021.

The report by three UN agencies — the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and the World Food Programme — said the region was particularly vulnerable to the global food crisis caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine that has affected wheat, maize and fertiliser imports.

“The number of people in the region suffering from hunger increased by 13.2 million to 56.5 million,” said the report released at a press conference in Santiago, Chile.

It also revealed that in 2021 moderate or severe food insecurity affected 267.7 million people — 40.6 per cent of the region’s population — which is “far above the world average” of 29.3 per cent.

The UN researchers pointed to rises in food inflation and extreme poverty as two of the factors behind the increase in hunger and food insecurity, which is defined as the lack of regular access to nutritious food.

Both observations by the ICRC and the three UN agencies come a mere two weeks after the UN issued an appeal for a record US$51.5 billion for 2023 to help people who have been pushed into crisis, some of whom are facing starvation due to conflicts, climate emergencies, and the simmering effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

These overlapping crises, the UN said, have already left the world dealing with the “largest global food crisis in modern history”.

The peoples of this region, and certainly here in Jamaica, would do well to give this issue priority attention as we all are susceptible to the effects of geopolitical and environmental events. Indeed, we are already being affected by challenges to global supply chains as well as price increases on fertiliser, foods and other commodities.

It can’t be said too often that it is extremely important that we make every effort to maintain and increase investment in domestic food production.

Here in Jamaica the Government has told us that it has developed a national food security strategy to counter the effects of rising prices worldwide. The strategy, called Grow Smart, Eat Smart, includes a major thrust to have Jamaicans eat more wholesome and nutritious foods and employ innovation, technology, and research to grow products.

As we have said before, we are encouraged by this strategy. The Administration needs to ensure that it is maintained and improved.