Ukrainian grain sails to Ethiopia as tenuous shipping deal between Kiev and Moscow holds
A vessel carrying 23,000 metric tons of wheat set sail toward Djibouti last week as part of the first Ukrainian grain shipment bound for Africa. Chartered by the World Food Program, the cargo is expected to arrive in Ethiopia in two weeks as part of an effort to distribute grain to countries whose food supplies were most affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Following the invasion, Ukrainian grain exports fell to under 800,000 tons a month, compared to over 4 million per month last year, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute. African states, previously heavily dependent on Russian and Ukrainian grain, have been especially affected.
In July, Ukraine and Russia reached an agreement, brokered by Turkey and the UN, to allow the export of 20 million tons of grain that has remained in Ukrainian silos since the war began. A total of 24 ships have left Ukrainian ports under the deal, Reuters reports. Kiev expected to export 3 million tons of grain in September, according todeputy infrastructure minister Yurik Vaskov.