World facing food shortage ‘catastrophe’, warns UN chief

Antonio Guterres says there is a risk of ‘multiple famines’ this year

Dhahira Hassan Ali sits with her one-year-old son Adan as he is fed via a nasogastric feeding tube to treat his severe acute malnutrition, at the stabilization center of Bay Regional Hospital in Baidoa, Somalia (AP)

The world is facing “catastrophe” because of the growing shortage of food, the head of the United Nations warned on Friday.

In his strongest words yet on a growing crisis, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said a combination of factors was causing an “unprecedented global hunger crisis” already affecting hundreds of millions of people.

Mr Guterres said the war in Ukraine had added to problems caused by climate change, the coronavirus pandemic and inequality.