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Ukraine to send 50,000 tons of wheat to Somalia and Ethiopia as famine looms

22 September 2022 17:21 (UTC +04:00)

Ukraine has announced that it will send 50,000 tons of wheat to Somalia and Ethiopia for free due to the threat of famine in the two countries, APA reports citing the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine.

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine agreed in a resolution dated September 16 to send wheat to the two Horn of Africa countries as humanitarian aid, with the aid provided at the expense of the wheat owned by the joint-stock company “State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine.”

Upon arrival, the Ukraine grain will be a welcome relief to drought-stricken Somalia as many continue to languish under the heavy weight of drought. A UN report in early September cited “concrete indications” that famine will occur in the part of the country, with over 850,000 people affected.

The announcement by the Ukrainian government comes days after Russian President Vladimir Putin lashed out at the West for sending most of the grain from Ukraine’s reopened ports to Europe instead of poorer and hungrier parts of the world.