Head of UN Aid concerned about climate, and cost of food

John Holmes is the Undersecretary for the UN Humanitarian Affairs, and Emergency Relief Coordination. And he is publicly voicing his concerns, over what he, and presumably the UN consider to be, rapidly rising prices of basic foodstuffs, worldwide.

On Tuesday, he also stated his worries about the increasingly extreme weather conditions globally that are the cause of more frequent and more intense, humanitarian disasters, all over the world.

A massive 14 of the total of 15 UN, so-called “flash appeals for help” during 2007 were initiated in response to massive humanitarian devastation brought on by hurricanes, flooding, and drought.

Holmes said at a news conference: “That is five more than in any other year,” and that: “We are seeing disasters increase in intensity and number,” he did also state that: “weather events could not always be directly linked with climate change.”

Massive increases in demand for basic foods throughout the world, and in particular in China and India, are forcing up prices to the consumer globally. More people around the world are shifting their diets, to include more meat, putting additional strain on land resources.

The land is also being moved away from the production of foodstuffs and into biofuels, causing even more pressure on food costs, and in many places, forcing the cost of staple food ingredients beyond the reach of the poor.

He cited an example, where the rise in the cost wheat flour in war ravaged Afghanistan had caused massive hardship to the Afghan poor, and that he has fears of similar consequences if the inflation of food prices, in Pakistan, and Bangladesh, were not curbed.

He Said: “This poses a double challenge for the World Food Program. Not only is the price increasing but the need is going up because of the hunger,”

UN Humanitarian Affairs, and Emergency Relief Coordinators’, are charged with bringing about a reduction in the number of malnourished people in the world by 50%.