Non-governmental organizations have described the results of a summit of G7 leaders in the Bavarian Alps as inadequate, with Oxfam Germany calling the meeting a "historic failure" to prevent growing food insecurity.
According to the final draft of summit declarations seen by dpa, G7 leaders are pledging up to $4.5 billion to improve global food security against the backdrop of a looming hunger crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Oxfam Germany responded by saying that at least $29 billion would be required to end hunger and finance the United Nations' urgent appeals for food aid.
The summit declarations are "intended to distract from the historic failure of the G7," a spokesperson said, adding that they failed to include any debt relief for affected low- and middle-income countries.
For every dollar of aid money, two dollars would have to be paid to creditors. "The G7 should have agreed to cancel this debt," the spokesperson said.
Stephan Exo-Kreischer of One Germany, an NGO that seeks to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, concurred that the amount pledged by G7 nations fell far short of what was required, saying that the World Food Programme required $21.5 billion this year alone.
"Moreover, the G7 have not yet answered how they intend to help break the blockade on the Black Sea so that Ukrainian wheat finally reaches the people who urgently need it," he said.
The war in Ukraine, now in its fifth month, is preventing grain from leaving the country's ports and making food more expensive globally, with experts and aid groups warning of a potential for famine in parts of Africa. Moscow blames Western sanctions for the food crisis.
