Africa Receives Grain Help From UN Brokered Supply Through Ukraine
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Roshan Amiri
- . September 1, 2022
- . Update: September 2, 2022 1:41 am
Africa–As the blockade has been lifted off the Ukrainian ports, grain has started to reach the needy and the hungry. Ethiopia is the first one to have received 23000 tonnes of grain from Ukraine via a humanitarian aid organized by the UN. The MV Brave Commander docked yesterday at the shores of Djibouti to quench the hunger of millions in Ethiopia.
The bulk carrier has arrived in the Horn of Africa port city two weeks after leaving a Black Sea port in Ukraine, the UN’s World Food Programme has confirmed.
Earlier on, the World Food Programme has pulled its hands off of helping Syrian, Afghani and Yemeni refugees that are also dealing with huge food insecurities. On call was the needs of Ukrainians itself, along with those suffering in the African continent.
Ethiopia, with Kenya and Somalia, is in the grip of a devastating drought that has left 22 million people at risk of starvation across the Horn of Africa, the WFP said this month. Again, there are chances that the delivery of the wheat might be affected by the ongoing conflict between government forces and Tigrayan rebels in the north of the country.
The Afar region is the only passageway for humanitarian convoys bound for Tigray. This is the one facing a serious food crisis due to the combined effects of the conflict in northern Ethiopia and drought in the Horn of Africa. So, chances of disruption due to the conflict are real.
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Ukraine had to suspend supply of grains to many of its trade partners that depend on it for grain supply. However, since August, exports of grain, food and fertilisers from three Black Sea ports resumed under a deal between Kyiv and Moscow, brokered by the UN and Turkey in July. The agreement lifted a Russian blockade of Ukraine’s ports and set terms for millions of tonnes of wheat and other grain to start flowing from silos and ports.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, welcoming the ship’s arrival and Djibouti’s role, said the United States will be “closely monitoring Russia’s adherence” to the deal.
“We call on Russia to immediately cease its war on Ukraine, which would do much to address the recent spike in global food insecurity,” Mr Blinken said.
According to figures late last week from the Joint Co-ordination Centre that manages the sea corridor, more than 720,000 tonnes of grain have already left Ukraine.
