UN: Closing Ukrainian ports puts millions of people around the world at risk of starvation
Ukraine is one of the three largest grain exporters in the world, known as the “European Bread Basket”. Since the start of the war in this country, Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea have been closed and millions of tons of grain have remained in the silos of this country.
The UN World Food Program says there are more shipments of Ukrainian-made grain on Ukrainian ships and they are unable to move, and if ports do not open soon, Ukrainian farmers will have a place to store their next crop in July and August. They will not have.
These conditions reduce the possibility of the destruction of millions of tons of grain in the midst of a growing world hunger crisis.
At the beginning of 2022, an estimated 276 million people worldwide were starving, but 47 million more are expected to be added if the conflict continues in Ukraine, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.
“We need to open these ports so that food can be exported from Ukraine or transported into the country,” said David Beazley, executive director of the World Food Program.
He added: “Our time is running out and the cost of not taking action in this area is more than everyone imagines.” I call on all parties involved to allow food shipments from Ukraine to be transported to areas in dire need so that we can avoid the risk of future famine.
In the eight months before the war, about 51 million metric tons of grain were exported from seven Ukrainian Black Sea ports. The disruption caused by the war has caused the export prices of wheat and corn to increase by more than one-fifth.
“Ukraine’s grain silos are full, while 44 million people are starving,” he said.
UN food spokesman Stephen Dujarric told reporters Friday evening local time: “The FAO warns that food prices are still very high and that global food security is being challenged.
“World food prices fell slightly in April after a sharp jump in March, resulting in a slight drop in oil prices,” Dujarric was quoted as saying by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome on the food price index. It was vegetable and cereal.
He noted that the FAO food price index had peaked in March, adding that in April (last month) it had fallen by only eight tenths of a percent.
A UN spokesman said the FAO warns that while the slight decline in the index is a good development, food prices remain high and challenge global food security.
Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the problem of world food security could not be solved without reviving Ukraine’s agricultural production and exporting Russian food and fertilizer to the world market.
“Investigations show that the war in Ukraine is worsening the situation,” Guterres told reporters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
He added that the war has exacerbated a three-pronged crisis that is destroying global food, energy and financial systems for developing countries.
He added: “Without restoring Ukrainian agricultural production and exporting Russian and Belarusian food and fertilizers to world markets, there is no real solution to the problem of global food security.”
The UN Secretary-General stressed that he is determined to facilitate negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to resolve the world food problem.
He added: “We must ensure a steady flow of food and energy in free markets by removing all unnecessary restrictions on exports, diverting surplus production and food stocks to countries in need, and controlling food prices to curb market fluctuations.”
In the wake of the Ukraine war crisis, the UN Security Council adopted the first statement in support of a peaceful solution in Ukraine on Friday evening local time.