Biden pledges $2.9 billion to address global food insecurity related to war in Ukraine

United States President Joe Biden pledged $2.9 billion to aid in mitigating global food insecurity resulting from the war in Ukraine that has dwindled the global grain supply, as well as other factors.

In his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Biden addressed the worldwide food shortage, the culmination of multiple factors including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic, rising inflation, and rising energy costs. Biden announced the United States will give $2.9 billion to help address the global food crisis.

The funds, according to the White House, will be used to “save lives through emergency interventions and invest in medium to long term food security assistance in order to protect the world’s most vulnerable populations from the escalating global food security crisis.”

Biden met with leaders from the African Union, African Union, and Spain, to discuss the worldwide food insecurity and how to continue addressing it. 

Biden says the United States is “taking on the food crisis head on.”

He added, “With as many as 193 million people around the world experiencing acute — acute food insecurity — a jump of 40 million in a year — today I’m announcing another $2.9 billion in U.S. support for lifesaving humanitarian and food security assistance for this year alone.”

The United States has previously pledged a total of about $6 billion toward the food crisis.

Biden was explicit in his opinion that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the biggest driving factor in the current food insecurity issue.

“Let me be perfectly clear about something,” Biden said. “Our sanctions explicitly allow — explicitly allow Russia the ability to export food and fertilizer. No limitation. It’s Russia’s war that is worsening food insecurity, and only Russia can end it.”