IMF, World Bank, WFP and WTO urge coordinated action on food security

FILE PHOTO: Grains of wheat pictured at a mill in Beirut, Lebanon, March 1, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The World Bank, International Monetary Fund, UN World Food Program and World Trade Organization on Wednesday called for urgent, coordinated action on food security, and appealed to countries to avoid banning food or fertilizer exports.

In a joint statement, the leaders of the four institutions warned that the war in Ukraine was adding to existing pressures from the COVID-19 crisis, climate change and increased fragility and conflict, threatening millions of people worldwide.