A UN report on the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine on food, energy, and finance systems worldwide has given us cause for great concern, especially as we have been experiencing sharp increases in prices for many consumer items over the past month.

The report, released last week, states that the war, “in all its dimensions, is producing alarming cascading effects to a world economy already battered by COVID-19 and climate change, with particularly dramatic impacts on developing countries”.

It also noted a recent projection by the UN Conference on Trade and Development that the world economy will be a full percentage point of gross domestic product (GDP) growth lower than expected due to the war.

The report pointed out that together Ukraine and the Russia provide approximately 30 per cent of the world’s wheat and barley, one-fifth of its maize, and over half of its sunflower oil.

It also noted that Russia is the world’s top natural gas exporter, and second-largest oil exporter, and, with neighbouring Belarus, exports approximately one-fifth of the world’s fertilisers.

Those realities have combined with the war to push commodity prices to record highs worldwide.

The report also highlighted the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) third-consecutive record food price index published on April 8 showing that food prices are 34 per cent higher than this time last year.

Additionally, crude oil prices have increased by approximately 60 per cent, and gas and fertiliser prices have more than doubled, the UN report stated.

The report, quite rightly, stated that it is vulnerable populations in developing countries that are particularly exposed to these price movements, as they dedicate the larger share of their income to food and energy.

“At current price levels, FAO worst-case estimates of increases in undernourishment and food insecurity are also highly likely,” the UN said, adding that, “in an environment of already high levels of socioeconomic stress due to the impacts of COVID-19, the rise in food prices threatens knock-on effects of social unrest”.

For us, this UN report brings into the spotlight the issue of food security for our country.

In January this year Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Pearnel Charles Jr was reported as telling journalists during a tour of onion farms in St Thomas that food security is a top priority for the Government.

Minister Charles Jr spoke to the fact that there is global demand for Jamaican produce. He also said that the Government is seeking to increase local production of several crops as the country’s food import bill is too high. At last check that figure was US$1 billion annually.

In fact, that very issue was raised by Senator Don Wehby in the Upper House last December. We share his view that the Government needs to create policies, the environment, and incentives to cut the country’s import bill in half by 2030.

“This,” Senator Wehby said, “will require investing heavily in agriculture and agro-processing by ensuring our farmers have good crop insurance and technical training to mass produce certain crops.”

He also quite rightly stated that our farmers “need the support to access technical training and to think big and think new technology, and processes”.

These are issues with which we have grappled over many years.

The Government needs to act on this instead of making promises.