Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati asked on Tuesday UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed to assist Lebanon in facing food insecurity challenges as a result of the war in Ukraine.
The PM’s request came during a meeting with Mohammed at the Grand Serail in the presence of UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Najat Rochdi and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCWA Rola Dashti.
“Mikati asked Mohammed for supporting Lebanon on food security in the face of the multiple challenges resulting from the presence of huge numbers of displaced Syrians in the country,” read a statement from the PM’s office.
During the meeting, Mikati also requested assistance in the recovery of funds transferred abroad and the fight against corruption.
The PM’s demand to support Lebanon comes as a food security crisis looms in the horizon feel of the Russian war on Ukraine and the difficulty in importing goods, especially wheat.
Several officials have warned that Lebanon has wheat reserves sufficient to cover only one month.
Lebanon imports 60% of its wheat from Ukraine .
Food crisis worldwide
Sanctioned Russian fertilizer and coal tycoon, Andrey Melnichenko, has warned that the Russian invasion of Ukraine will lead to a world food crisis and called for the war to end.
“The events in Ukraine are truly tragic. We urgently need peace. As Russian by nationality, Belarusian by birth, and Ukrainian by blood, I feel great pain and disbelief witnessing the brotherly peoples are fighting and dying,” Melnichenko said in comments sent by his spokesperson to Insider.
“One of the victims of this crisis will be agriculture and food,” Melnichenko also said, adding that the war has “already led to soaring prices in fertilisers which are no longer affordable to farmers.”
Asharq Al-Awsat
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