2023-07-20 09:33:31
Parts of Africa and the Middle East will likely feel the effects of Russia’s latest move to withdraw from a pact that allowed Ukrainian grain to leave Black Sea ports.
The Black Sea Grains Agreement, negotiated by the United Nations and Turkey last July, which allowed the export of more than 30 million tonnes from the three main Ukrainian ports, has helped to lower prices global food supplies and enabled aid agencies to access hundreds of thousands of tons of food at a time when needs are growing and funding is tight. But Russia’s withdrawal from the pact should send shivers down the spine, especially in poorer African countries, many of which are already reeling from inflation, climate shocks and conflict.
“There are simply too many stakes in a hungry and suffering world,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said earlier this week. “Today’s decision by the Russian Federation will be a blow to people in need everywhere,” the UN chief said.
The end of the Black Sea grains deal is likely to hit the Horn of Africa hardest, aid officials say, warning further food price hikes would add to the tens of millions of people facing hunger. Famine in parts of the Horn of Africa has been averted this year as the rainy season, which is expected to fail for the fifth consecutive year, has exceeded expectations.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) officials have warned that since diets in Somalia, Sudan, Djibouti and Eritrea are wheat-driven, any change will be “very slow”. “. UN data shows that around 700,000 tons have been shipped to Kenya and Ethiopia since the start of the Black Sea deal.
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