Dinner Circle with David Miliband

With many African countries dependent on grain and fertiliser imports from both Russia and Ukraine, recent UN reports put the number of people at risk of hunger at a record high of 345 million, especially in regions grappling with the impacts of climate change. 

Food insecurity and a surge in energy prices endanger the economic output of economies and the overall stability of African states. Observers also fear that the looming energy crisis in Europe further diverts attention from economic cooperation with Africa – at a time when close, value-based partnerships are more important than ever. 

Additionally, hunger is seldom only a question of supply, but encompasses production, supply chains, cooling and storage, distribution, market access and export fixation. Eliminating hunger therefore requires not only urgent humanitarian action, but diversification and far-reaching systemic changes in food systems and global trade. 

Together with David Miliband, President of the International Rescue Committee and former UK Foreign Minister, and Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, we want to discuss immediate humanitarian action as well as new approaches in development and economic cooperation to address the root causes of hunger and ensure a world that can feed itself.