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Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has asserted the need to clearly distinguish between the weaponisation of food supply chains and legitimate measures adopted by countries to address food security requirements. Addressing the G20 Trade Ministers' meeting in Milwaukee, about 1,200 kms from here, Goyal said the shared objective must be to ensure that food remains a source of security, stability and cooperation. "Also, underlined that we must clearly distinguish between the weaponisation of food supply chains and legitimate measures adopted by countries to pursue domestic policy objectives and address food-security needs," Goyal said in a post on X. The minister was speaking at a session on 'Weaponisation of Food through Coercive Trade Action' at the G20 Trade Ministers' Meet on Wednesday. Earlier, US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer said the US, during its G20 Presidency, has focused over the course of the year on four work streams -- the weaponisation of food, structural exce
The UN food agency said millions of people are being pushed into acute hunger by the Iran war, as it warned would happen if the conflict escalated and oil prices remained high. The World Food Program said an analysis in three vulnerable countries found that an additional 2.5 million people in Somalia, 2.3 million in Afghanistan and 1.3 million in Sri Lanka are struggling to meet their basic food needs. In March, WFP predicted that 45 million people could be pushed into food insecurity by the end of June. That would be on top of the 318 million people around the world who are already food insecure. "We remain by that prognosis," WFP's acting Executive Director Carl Skau told UN reporters. "That's mainly because the correlation between the prices of energy and food is so tight in many places, and also that in the poorest countries people are already spending all their money on food, and hence when food prices rise, they eat less." WFP said in its report, circulated late Thursday, tha
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Wednesday conferred with the prestigious FAO Agricola Medal by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in recognition of his contribution to food security, sustainable agriculture and rural development. Modi, who arrived in Italy on Tuesday night on the concluding leg of his five-nation tour, received the award from Dr Qu Dongyu, Director-General of FAO at the UN body's headquarters in Rome. Modi said that the honour reflects India's unwavering commitment to food security, sustainable development and the hard work of those associated with the agriculture sector. "This is an honour to India's millions of farmers, livestock rearers, fish farmers, agricultural scientists, and workers. This is also an honour to India's unwavering commitment, at the centre of which lies human welfare, food security, and Sustainable Development," he said. The FAO Agricola Medal is one of the highest honours awarded by the FAO to distinguished ...
With the United States trying to squeeze Iran by blockading goods from entering or exiting its ports, food suppliers are rerouting imports via the Caspian Sea to ensure food keeps getting into the country. The head of the Association of Iran's Food Industries said Monday that alternative import routes are being "incorporated into the supply chain for essential goods". "At present, there is no problem with the country's food security, but maintaining this situation requires careful planning," Mohammad Reza Mortazavi said, according to the state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. The Caspian is the world's largest inland body of water and its southern coastline stretches more than 430 miles (700 km) in northern Iran. Iran is a net importer of food staples like grain and cooking oil.
With the longest US government shutdown over, state officials said Thursday that they are working quickly to get full SNAP food benefits to millions of people, though it still could take up to a week for some to receive their delayed aid. A back-and-forth series of court rulings and shifting policies from President Donald Trump's administration has led to a patchwork distribution of November benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. While some states already had issued full SNAP benefits, about two-thirds of states had issued only partial benefits or none at all before the government shutdown ended late Wednesday, according to an Associated Press tally. The federal food programme serves about 42 million people, about 1 in 8 Americans, in lower-income households. They receive an average of around $190 monthly per person, though that doesn't necessarily cover the full cost of groceries for a regular month. A spokesperson for the US Department of Agriculture, which