The head of the United Nations World Food Program warned Tuesday that the coronavirus outbreak threatens to exacerbate existing crises to create a "hunger pandemic."

"There are no famines yet. But I must warn you that if we don’t prepare and act now – to secure access, avoid funding shortfalls and disruptions to trade – we could be facing multiple famines of biblical proportions within a short few months," said David Beasley, executive director of the WFP, during a virtual session of the U.N. Security Council.

Beasley said that even before the outbreak began, the world was "facing the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II" this year due to many factors, including wars in Syria and Yemen, the crisis in South Sudan, and locust swarms across East Africa. Coupled with the coronavirus outbreak, famine threatens about three dozen nations, he said.

"We’re already facing a perfect storm," Beasley said.

According to the 2020 Global Report on Food Crises released Monday, 135 million people around the world were already threatened with starvation. Beasley said that figure could nearly double due to the impact of the pandemic.

He said there was "a real danger that more people could potentially die from the economic impact of COVID-19 than from the virus itself."

The shutdowns imposed by governments around the world will hit the working poor in already impoverished nations especially hard. Many developing nations that benefit from large remittances from emigrants working in the industrialized world will see those payments dry up. Countries that depend on tourism have seen that revenue disappear. And collapsing oil prices will hurt nations that depend on those exports, such as South Sudan.

The economic devastation caused by the shutdowns limit the ability of wealthier nations to provide aid and threatens supply chains.

In order to respond to the crisis, Beasley called for a "global ceasefire" and for the parties engaged in conflicts around the world to give the WFP "swift and unimpeded humanitarian access to all vulnerable communities." And he asked that $1.9 billion in already pledged donations be accelerated to allow the organization to stockpile three months' worth of food, as well as an additional $350 million to manage the logistics of distributing it.

"The truth is we do not have time on our side. So, so let’s act wisely – and let’s act fast," Beasley said. "I do believe that with our expertise and partnerships, we can bring together the teams and the programs necessary to make certain the COVID-19 pandemic does not become a humanitarian and food crisis catastrophe."