The Ukrainian government has announced plans to ship 25,000 tonnes of grain to Nigeria as part of the Black Sea grain deal.
The Black Sea grain initiative was set up in July 2022 to ease the global food crisis which resulted after Russia invaded Ukraine, a fellow key grain exporter.
The initiative, also known as the Initiative on the Safe Transportation of Grain and Foodstuffs from Ukrainian ports commonly called the Grain Deal was a deal set up among Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations (UN).
The Ukraine-Russia war had caused a global supply shortage and was the main reason for the establishment of the UN-backed Black Sea grain deal in 2022 aimed at guaranteeing a safe passage for grains to countries identified as suffering from food hunger, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa.
The program which was implemented in partnership with the UN World Food Programme involved the purchase of grain from Ukraine by partner countries after which it was sent to the countries facing a humanitarian crisis.
To enforce the deal in parts of Africa, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Mykola Solskyi met with Nigeria’s Ex-Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama and Ex-Agriculture and Rural Development Minister, Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar in Abuja in January 2023 where both countries signed the “Grains from Ukraine Project”.
According to a statement by the Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey, Vasyl Bodnar, the grain is currently being stored in Turkey under the protection of the United Nations World Food Program.
The envoy also said there are plans to further send another 60 ships from other ports.
“During the Black Sea Grain Initiative, this grain was delivered in bulk from one of the ports in Ukraine,” he stated.
“It is now being held in Turkey under the aegis of the United Nations World Food Program. It is critical for us to work with the World Food Program to send grain to countries like Nigeria.” the envoy stated.
According to the Ukrinform, (the Ukrainian National News Agency), the captain of the Fuat Sezgin vessel bringing grain to Africa, Tolga Özal, has confirmed the consignment is scheduled to arrive in Nigeria in about a month depending on weather conditions.