- The first ship carrying grain from Ukraine for people in the Horn of Africa region has docked at the port of Djibouti. Many areas of East Africa are badly affected by deadly drought and conflict.
The first ship carrying grain from Ukraine for people in the Horn of Africa region has docked at the port of Djibouti. Many areas of East Africa are badly affected by deadly drought and conflict.
The worst-hit countries of the region are Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia. Food grains from the first shipment will be distributed here. The flow of grain from Ukraine to other poverty ridden parts of the world is expected to continue, with another ship departing for Yemen.
WFP (World Food Programme) says this first shipment of grain will be sent overland to northern Ethiopia. Millions of people there have been affected by the country’s Tigray conflict. Of late, the tension has flared up again. Humanitarian deliveries by road and air to Tigray have been suspended amid the fighting. But Ethiopia’s neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions also are expected to benefit.
Close to 23,000 metric tons of grain has been sent in the first ship. This is enough to feed 1.5 million people on full rations for a month. According to the U.N. 2.4 million in Tigray alone are severely food insecure and 20 million people across Ethiopia face hunger. Besides, millions of people in other parts of the Horn of Africa region are going hungry because of drought. Thousands have died due to acute shortage of food, particularly in Somalia since it was dependent on Ukraine for the supply.
Read also:
https://trendsnafrica.com/drought-conditions-to-continue-in-the-greater-horn-of-africa-igad/
Far more ships carrying grain from Ukraine’s reopened ports have been going to richer places like Europe as existing business contracts are fulfilled. Over 114 ships carrying more than 1.2 million metric tons of food commodities had left Ukraine to richer destinations.
