Remarks by World Bank Group President David Malpass to the African Consultative Group at the 2022 Spring Meetings

These remarks were delivered by World Bank Group President David Malpass to the Development Committee at 2022 Spring Meetings on April 22, 2022. The war in Ukraine is an added challenge to catastrophic droughts, the surge in food prices, and disruptions of food supply chains. An estimated 100 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa are expected to face food insecurity in the coming months. In Ethiopia, South Sudan and Madagascar, there were no rains for the past three years. In the Horn of Africa alone, twenty-five million people are facing famine. The Sahel faces drought, environmental degradation, displacement, poor trade integration, and the deteriorating security situation are key factors. Cameroon, the Gambia, Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, and South Africa were major importers of agri-food products originating from Russia. Djibouti, Egypt, and Tunisia have already been experiencing high food price inflation over the past year owing to the region's dependence on cereal imports