More than 250m people could be pushed into extreme poverty in 2022 – Oxfam
More than a quarter of a billion people around the world could be pushed into extreme poverty this year amid a surge in global food prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the ongoing impact of Covid and rising global inequality, Oxfam has warned.
Highlighting the knock-on impact of the war for the poorest people around the globe, the aid charity said two decades of progress were in danger of being reversed as the conflict pushes up prices on wholesale markets, disrupts harvests and impedes exports of vital commodities.
It warned a total of 263 million people – equivalent to the populations of the UK, France, Germany and Spain combined – could be pushed into extreme poverty this year.
Ahead of key international meetings being held next week by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, Oxfam said that by the end of the year as many as 860 million people could be living in extreme poverty – living on less than $1.90 (£1.46) a day.
The UN said last week that global food prices had reached a new all-time high amid the repercussions of war in Europe and warned that soaring costs would hit the poorest hardest.
The conflict has driven up prices of wheat, maize and vegetable oils. Russia ranks as the world’s largest exporter of wheat, while Ukraine – known as the breadbasket of Europe – ranks fifth. Together the countries supply more than a quarter of global exports, with buyers typically concentrated in poor regions such as the Middle East and north Africa.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which tracks global prices, said the war had contributed to a rise in cereal prices of 17% over the past month alone, with the closure of ports hitting wheat and maize exports in the Black Sea. Russian exports have also been
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