Low-income nations get only ≈ quarter of grain sent via Black Sea: FAO
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The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) unveils how much grain low-income countries are receiving from all the grain exported via the Black Sea.
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Port of Odesa, loading grain into the holds of a sea cargo vessel via an automatic line from grain storage silos (Photo: Shutterstock)
On Friday, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) revealed that only a quarter of the grain exported under the UN-brokered deal with Ukraine and Russia via the Black Sea is going to low-income countries.
"Now, the concern again, is that despite these bigger food availabilities, still only around 25 to 26% of the grain ... is going to low income countries," an FAO statement said.
It is essential to improve an increased food access capacity for the most vulnerable countries for the ratio to start changing, the statement added.
"And that's what we are observing and that's why there was an improvement in the last six months."
Most of the grain leaving Ukraine's ports after the grain shipments deadlock that exacerbated the international food crisis is heading to the European Union instead of developing countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said back in September as the world's poorest nations bear the brunt of the food crisis most.
Several countries are at risk of dwindling grain supplies, such as Somalia, Yemen, Niger, and Lebanon, to name a few.
Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey inked an UN-brokered agreement on July 22 to establish a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships transporting food and fertilizer from Black Sea ports.
Three vital Ukrainian ports — Odessa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhne — have been cleared, allowing exports to restart. The Istanbul-based Joint Coordination Center (JCC) was established to supervise the initiative's operation, including ensuring that cargo ships do not transport illicit commodities or individuals.
According to a September JCC report, 28% of the grain shipments went to low-income countries and 44% to high-income countries since the signing of the agreement.
Part of the deal concerning Russian food exports was not working altogether, Russia's envoy to the United Nations has said, adding that this may lead to the termination of the agreement.
