- Title: U.N. ship brings food relief from Ukraine to drought-hit Horn of Africa
- Date: 30th August 2022
- Summary: YUZHNE, UKRAINE (AUGUST 16, 2022) (REUTERS VARIOUS OF SHIP 'BRAVE COMMANDER' SAILING AT SEA
- Embargoed: 13th September 2022 14:48
- Keywords: Africa Brave Commander Djibouti Grain Ukraine United Nations
- Location: PORT OF DJIBOUTI, DJIBOUTI / YUZHNE, UKRAINE
- City: PORT OF DJIBOUTI, DJIBOUTI / YUZHNE, UKRAINE
- Country: Djibouti
- Topics: Africa,Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA002153230082022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A ship carrying wheat from Ukraine to the drought-stricken Horn of Africa docked on Tuesday (August 30), the United Nations said, the first to make the journey since the Russian invasion six months ago.
Video released by the chief of the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) on Twitter showed the ship 'Brave Commander' docked in Port of Djibouti.
The vessel 'Brave Commander' is carrying 23,000 tonnes of grain and will soon be followed by another carrying 7,000 tonnes, the WFP said.
The total shipment, to be unloaded in Djibouti and transported to Ethiopia, is enough to feed 1.5 million people for a month, according to the WFP.
That barely begins to alleviate the problems of Eastern Africa, where the WFP says extreme weather, surging food prices and conflict mean 82 million people need food aid across nine countries - Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.
Officials hope the successful voyage will inspire private companies to begin shipping grain from Ukraine to Eastern Africa, where rising global food prices and difficulties raising donor funding have forced the United Nations to cut rations for refugees and displaced people.
Among them are 150,000 Eritrean refugees sheltering in Ethiopia, many of whom have been repeatedly displaced by conflict in the north, and whose rations were cut in June to half the recommended amount of food.
While the shipment will help people displaced by conflict, none of it will be sold commercially, meaning it will not lower food prices for ordinary Ethiopians.
Last month, the United Nations and Turkey brokered a deal between Moscow and Kyiv to unblock three Black Sea ports, making it possible to send hundreds of thousands of tonnes of Ukrainian grain to buyers.
(Production: Olga Vyshnevska) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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