Lena Simet, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that rising prices are worsening the plight of millions of people thrown into poverty by the pandemic, requiring urgent action by governments and the international community.

Lena, who is quoted in the NGO's communiqué, recalls that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has worsened the food security crisis in many African countries, which depend heavily on wheat, fertilizers, and cooking oils imported from those two warring countries.

In addition, the researcher warns, with the war, global markets have been destabilized and food prices have increased further, so that even countries that have reduced imports from Russia and Ukraine are indirectly affected.

"Governments and donors must ensure access to affordable food in Africa by stepping up economic and emergency assistance and social protection efforts. Otherwise, millions of people across the African continent may go hungry," HRW calls in the statement, which is cited by some news portals.

Recalling that under human rights law, everyone has the right to sufficient and adequate food, the organization stresses that governments are obliged to implement policies and programs that ensure that everyone has access to safe and nutritious food.

HRW recalls that even before the war in Ukraine, many countries, including Angola, Cameroon, Kenya, and Nigeria, were already facing a sharp increase in food prices due to extreme weather episodes, such as droughts and floods, and the covid-19 pandemic.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, food prices have reached new record highs, recalls the organization, which cites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Food Price Index, which rose by 12.6% between February and March, the highest since the measurement was created in the 1990s.

Russia and Ukraine are among the world's top five exporters of barley, sunflower, and corn, and account for about one-third of the world's wheat exports.

The World Food Programme (WFP) purchases half of the wheat it distributes worldwide from Ukraine. With the war, supply has dwindled and prices have increased, including fuel prices, adding to the cost of transporting food to and from the region.

WFP has already warned that if the war lasts beyond April, acute hunger could increase by 17% worldwide, with the worst increases estimated to occur in East, West and Southern Africa, where the total number of people suffering acute food insecurity could increase by 20.8% and affect 174 million people, HRW recalls.

According to FAO data from 2020, 66.2% of Africa's population was then already deprived of a healthy diet and some 323.2 million Africans (29.5%) had gone without food at some point that year, a situation that has since been exacerbated by the pandemic.