In the first food delivery to Africa under an UN-brokered agreement to lift a grain embargo under siege by the Russian war and provide relief to some millions of people around the world on the verge of hunger, a ship neared Ukraine on Friday to provide wheat to the hungry in Ethiopia.
The breadbasket of the world, Ukraine, has been producing grain for months, but the conflict and Russian embargo have caused it to accumulate in silos, skyrocketing food prices, and poverty in areas of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Under the terms of the new deal, numerous ships carrying grain have recently departed Ukrainian ports; nevertheless, the majority of the shipments were of animal feed that was sent to Turkey or Western Europe.
But on Friday, Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, declared that the first shipment of humanitarian relief from the World Food Program (WFP) to Africa would shortly be loaded and then depart. A tracking program called MarineTraffic showed the ship moving into southern Ukraine in the afternoon.
In order to reduce food shortages and famine throughout the world, Michel said the ship would transport grain to Ethiopia and emphasized that “the participation of all the parties concerned is crucial.” According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Infrastructure, the Brave Commander was planning to transport more than 23,000 metric tons, which represents a very small portion of the roughly 20 million tons of grain that have been damaged in Ukraine. In the Horn of Africa, in Djibouti, the ship was supposed to dock.
Ethiopia, along with neighboring Somalia and Kenya, is suffering from the Horn of Africa’s worst drought in forty years. In the region, thousands of people have perished from disease or famine this year. For the first time, a fifth consecutive rainy season does not appear to be in the cards, according to forecasts for the upcoming weeks. The foundation of many families’ income and food security—millions of animals—died.
