By Vincent Owino, NAIROBI
Kenya
Kenya, South Sudan, and Somalia are among African countries which will benefit from a donation of grains from Ukraine meant to help alleviate the growing hunger crisis on the continent, despite Kyiv’s own internal woes in the face of a war with Russia.
Kyiv has partnered with
international donors including the European Union to establish the “Grain from
Ukraine Humanitarian Programme”, which will enable several hunger-stricken
countries in Africa and Asia receive food donations from the war-torn eastern
European nation.
Speaking to African
journalists from Kyiv on Monday, Ukraine’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro
Kuleba said the programme seeks to lift at least five million Africans out of
the growing food insecurity crisis, which has been exacerbated by Russia’s
invasion of his country.
“This will be possible through
the dispatch of one to 10 ships per month in 2023. We invite partners from all
over the world to join the programme and allocate finances for purchasing ships
with Ukrainian grain that are then shipped to the most vulnerable countries free
of charge,” Mr Kuleba said.
Already, there are over 20
countries and the European Union contributing to the programme, with Ukraine
also drawing finances from its “war-torn budget” to purchase the grains for
donation to Africa, Mr Kuleba said.
Last Saturday, 29 countries,
including Ukraine, meeting at the International Summit on Food Security,
fundraised almost $150 million for the programme. Mr Kuleba said several ships
with Ukrainian grain are already enroute to Africa and that the food will be
given free of charge.
Through the programme,
“Ukraine plans to ship at least 60 large vessels,” Mr Kuleba said.
Other African countries
expected to benefit from the donations include Ethiopia, Sudan, Democratic
Republic of Congo and Nigeria.
Ukraine, which accounted for
close to half of the world’s grain exports before the invasion by Russia in
February 2022, has significantly fallen back on trade as a consequence of the
war.
Previously, at least 10
percent of the world’s wheat exports came from Kyiv and it accounted for about
20 percent of barley exports and 50 percent of sunflower oil exports. Since the
war started, there were barely any exports coming out of the country.
Given that 32 percent of all
African wheat imports come from Russia and 12 percent from Ukraine, the eastern
European conflict has heavily impacted the African population.
The brokerage of the black sea
grain deal between Russia, Ukraine and the government of Turkey, however,
provided a lifeline for many African countries in which food prices were
already spiralling as a result of the war, but Russia has since walked back on
the deal.
In a recent report assessing
the impact of the Ukraine war on the African population, the United Nations
Economic Commission for Africa projected that by end 2022, it will have pushed
nearly 310 million Africans into food insecurity and increase those facing
acute hunger by six million.
Currently, there are about 4.5
million people in Kenya facing acute food insecurity and in need of immediate
humanitarian assistance, according to the Inter-Governmental Authority on
Development (Igad). In the entire region, about 40 million people need food
aid.
Ukraine says it cannot stand
by and watch as hunger ravages people when there is something it can do, hence
the formation of the programme, notwithstanding its current predicament of the
ongoing war.
“Russia’s war has hit hard not
only our country, but countries of Europe, Africa, Asia, and beyond. This is
why the programme is so important to help alleviate the food insecurity for
millions of people across the world,” Mr Kuleba said.
According to the minister,
Kyiv’s inspiration is “the genocide by starvation”, a man-made famine initiated
through confiscation of food products from Ukrainians by the Soviet government
under the leadership of Joseph Stalin between 1931 and 1932.
“For us, it’s a historical
trauma, and we promised two things to ourselves: first, no country will ever do
the same to Ukrainians, and second, that anytime we can help others to avoid
famine, we will be doing so,” Kuleba told journalists.
While Kyiv also continues to
rally more African countries to stand strongly against Russia’s insurgency in
its borders, the minister maintained that the choice of countries receiving the
aid was purely based on need and not political affiliation.
Ethiopia, for instance,
abstained from the October UN resolution to condemn Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine, but is among the first countries that are confirmed to be receiving
the donation.
After his trip to Africa in
October, Mr Kuleba said he would like the African countries which abstained
from the vote, including Tanzania, Uganda, and Burundi, to strongly take a
stance against the invasion.
“Of course, all we want is for
African countries to be vocal in condemning Russia’s aggression against
Ukraine. This picture is black and white, and we expect African countries to
take a fair stance on this aggression,” he said on Monday.
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