(INDIANAPOLIS) – The COVID-19 pandemic has rolled back years of progress toward reducing world hunger.
Elanco Animal Health CEO Jeff Simmons told the Global Economic Summit in Indianapolis the number of people unsure of having enough to eat has doubled in two years. He says the pandemic was the first in a string of shocks to the system: the world was still trying to rebuild the food supply chain when Russia invaded Ukraine. The two countries supply more than a quarter of the world’s wheat.
And Simmons says every additional percentage point of inflation adds another 10 million people to those classified as “food insecure.”
Simmons says affordability was an issue even before the price spikes of the last year. He says many consumers have clamored for organic food options, but haven’t always been willing to pay the significantly higher prices that usually accompany them.
Corteva Agriscience executive vice president Robert King says the issue hasn’t been production. He says there’s easily enough food to feed the whole world. But even before the war in Ukraine closed that country’s ports, King says it’s often been difficult to get food across borders to where it’s needed.
Simmons says about three in 10 people aren’t getting proper nutrition.
