The first ship carrying humanitarian food aid to Africa from Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began in February has departed from the country’s Black Sea port of Pivdennyi, the Ukrainian government has announced.
The United Nations-chartered Brave Commander, which is loaded with 23,000 tonnes of wheat, departed for Djibouti on Tuesday with supplies destined for consumers in Ethiopia, Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said it was working with the UN on increasing “food supplies for the socially vulnerable sections of the African population” as concerns mount over a global food crisis caused by Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov said the Brave Commander was expected to arrive in the Horn of Africa in two weeks.
Ukraine’s ports were reopened last month following a deal between Moscow and Kyiv, brokered by the UN and Turkey, which has made it possible for Ukraine to export hundreds of thousands of tonnes of grain, other food supplies and fertilisers to global buyers.
A total of 21 ships have left Ukrainian ports under the deal so far, according to Turkey’s defence ministry.
The World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday warned the world still faces an unprecedented food crisis despite the reopening of Ukraine’s Chornomorsk, Pivdennyi and Odesa ports, saying up to 50 million people in 45 countries are on the edge of famine.
“It will take more than grain ships out of Ukraine to stop world hunger, but with Ukrainian grain back on global markets we have a chance to stop this global food crisis from spiraling even further,” WFP Executive Director David Beasley said in a statement.
Source: Aljazeera
