Abuja, Nigeria (CU)_ The African Union applauded the historic agreement signed between Ukraine and Russia that would allow Kyiv to begin grain exports across the Black Sea and alleviate the global food crisis. Ukraine’s fields provide a major supply of grain for the global market, especially for the Middle East and Africa, where food supplies are severely affected. Due to the decline in exports, cereal prices in the world’s poorest continent have skyrocketed, exacerbating the effects of conflict and climate change and generating concerns of societal unrest.
A statement from the African Union lauded the Senegalese leader and AU chair Macky Sall. It said, “The Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat welcomes the signing of the Russia and Ukraine agreement for having called for the urgent need for the resumption of cereals from Ukraine and Russia to global markets as made to President Vladimir Putin during a joint AU mission to Sochi in early June”.
Ukraine and Russia are the two major grain producers of the world. However, Ukrainian mines laid across the Black Sea to prevent an amphibious attack, as well as Russian warships, have halted Ukrainian exports, which led to 25 million tonnes of wheat and other grains at risk of rotting in ports and silos. Sall congratulated Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey, who presided over the signing of the agreement in Istanbul, and Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. Sall tweeted, “This was the objective of the mission I led in Sochi on June 3”.
The International Rescue Committee, which aids individuals impacted by humanitarian crises, also applauded the agreement, noting that East African nations depended on Russia and Ukraine for more than 90 percent of their wheat imports. According to Shashwat Saraf, East Africa emergency director of IRC, “The lifting of these blockades will go some way in easing the extreme hunger that over 18 million people in East Africa are facing, with three million already facing catastrophic hunger conditions”.
