G/AG/GEN/211  
 
17 November 2022  
(22-8620) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Agriculture  Original: English  
 
 
STATEMENT BY THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND TO THE WTO  
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE ON THE IMF 'S RESPONSE  
TO FOOD INSECURITY  
Submission by IMF 
The following submission, dated 1 7 November 2022, is  being circulated at the request of the 
International Monetary Fund  (IMF). 
 
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1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  The world now faces a food crisis as major price shocks exacerbate food insecurity. A multitude 
of factors have contributed to growing food insecurit y since 2018, most recently Russia n Federation 's 
war in Ukraine, which has exacerbated pressures on international prices for food staples and 
fertilizers. Many food -importing countries are now facing severe challenges; those that had been 
relying on Ukrain e for an elevated share of their food imports are among the most affected. As 
pressures on food markets intensified, a number of food exporting countries have resorted to 
protectionist measures that have had a further negative effect on international price s and market 
volatility. While international prices have recently eased, they remain significantly above their 
2020-21 averages. Moreover, high prices for fertilizers and energy as well as substantial downside 
risks weigh on the outlook.  
1.2.  Strong and timely actions are needed to mitigate the food crisis, and the IMF is committed to 
supporting affected countries with the full range of its instruments, complementing the work of other 
institutions. This includes working to help address pressures on external bala nces and fiscal 
situations that result from food shortages and elevated global food prices. Working closely with the  
Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO), World  Food Programme ( WFP), World Bank, WTO, and 
other international organizations or bodies, the IMF's activities fall into four main workstreams: 
(1) monitoring vulnerabilities, (2) providing policy advice and capacity development, (3) deploying 
financial support, and (4) cooperating with partners. Further elaboration on the Fund 's activities in 
each of these areas can be found below and also in a recent staff note.1 
2  MONITORING VULNERABILITIES  
2.1.  The Fund is closely monitoring the exposure of its members to the current global food security 
crisis. This work stream acts as an early warning device on vuln erabilities associated with the food 
shock, which enables policymakers to take proactive mitigation measures. At the country level, this 
allows for identifying and addressing macroeconomic impacts of food shocks, and working with 
country authorities on mac roeconomic frameworks that integrate the food -related pressures as a 
basis for policy development and donor coordination. This work pays particular attention to fragile 
and conflict -affected states, many of which are severely affected by food insecurity.  
 
1 IMF Note on " Tackling the Global Food Crisis: Impact, Policy Response, and the Role of the IMF ," 
September 2022.  G/AG/GEN/211  
 
- 2 - 
 
  3  PROVIDING POLICY ADVICE AND CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT  
3.1.  Through its policy advice and capacity building assistance, IMF staff are working with country 
authorities on macroeconomic frameworks, and on improving social safety nets to protect vulnerable 
households fr om the imminent threat of food insecurity. In this way, the Fund aims to pro-actively 
identify food -related BOP pressures and help governments safeguard food security without resorting 
to policies like export restrictions that can exacerbate high food pric es for other countries . The Fund 
is also providing advice on how to target support to the vulnerable while mitigating impact on fiscal 
and monetary stability, and on how to strengthen resilience to climate change.2 
4  DEPLOYING FINANCIAL SUPPORT  
4.1.  The IMF is deploying financial support, using all elements in the lending toolkit. IMF lending, in 
the form of balance of payments support, catalyzes and complements financing from other 
institutions. Where appropriate, the IMF can quickly scale -up financing for the countries with active 
program arrangements – many of which are low income – and can consider new arrangements for 
most others. Since Russia n Federation 's invasion of Ukraine, augmentations to existing programs in 
Jordan, Republic of Moldova, and Senegal an d new Fund -supported programs in Benin, Cabo Verde, 
Georgia, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia, have supported policies to address the impact of the 
food crisis, often through strengthening social safety nets.  
4.2.  The Fund also has enhanced its lending toolkit  with the approval by the IMF Executive Board 
on 30 September  2022, of a new 'food shock window ' under its emergency financing instruments. 
The new window provides increased access to emergency financing for countries that have urgent 
balance of payments n eeds associated with the global food shock and where a multi -year reform 
program is not immediately feasible. Similar to other emergency financing instruments, such support 
does not have ex -post program conditionality or reviews. The new window is temporar y (12 months) 
and provides an access to emergency financing capped at 50 % of a member country 's IMF  quota. 
To qualify, countries need to meet the standard qualifications required for emergency financing and 
demonstrate an urgent balance of payments need th at is associated with the global food shock.  
5  COOPERATING WITH PARTNERS  
5.1.  Coordination among development partners is critical for a targeted and timely response to the 
current crisis. To that end, the IMF has been stepping up its engagement with development partners, 
including other international organizations and bodies, to expand on policy advice, capacity building 
assistance, and financing. Along with other international organizations, the IMF assists countries 
with food security concerns to identify and i mplement well -calibrated policies to increase the 
domestic supply response and to help ensure that food supplies are allocated where they are most 
needed without resorting to export restrictions.  
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2 See IMF Departmental Paper, "Climate Change and Chronic Food Insecurity in Sub -Saharan Africa ," 
September 2022.