Kenya is set to receive 30,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat at the port of Mombasa as the first of the five ships carrying these grains is expected to arrive. The imports are expected to ease the grain inflations witnessed so far in the country as the pressure on food and cooking gas prices heightens.
It is estimated by UN World Food Programme that the 30,000 tons of grain delivered from the Ukraine initiative will provide bread for about 2 million people for 1.5 months. Food being a basic need proves quite vital to the growth of not only a family but the development of a country in general. Since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, there have been severe shortages in the food supply as the countries that relied on imports from the two countries are rendered food insecure.
Africa having imported more than $1.4 billion in wheat from Ukraine meant reliance on the imports was very important for the citizens’ survival as well as signaled how big as an exporter Ukraine was.
As the Russia-Ukraine conflict kept going deeper and deeper, the president of Ukraine Zelenskyy initiated ‘Grain from Ukraine’ (GfU) a humanitarian program, that seeks to support reduce inflation around the world and a surge in global food prices that exposed several countries across Africa, including Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Somalia, to the worst food crisis seen in 40 years.
The program which since its inception has played a critical role in supporting nations faced with hunger deal with the situation as it has delivered over 140,000 tons of Ukranian wheat. The Ukrainian president emphasizes that the GfU program is solely providing much-needed assistance to nations affected by the ongoing global food crisis.
According to, the Head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office and Chairman of the International Coordination Group for the Prevention of Hunger (ICGPH), Andriy Yermak the shipment will ease famine witnessed in various parts of the country.
“Today’s shipment to Kenya cements our ongoing commitment to tackling forced famine across Africa’s most vulnerable nations,” said Yermak.
This shipment was made possible by the support of the UN World Food Program (WFP) and financial assistance from the governments of the United Kingdom, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic.
In conclusion, this comes at a dire moment when, it was stated by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, that over 5.4 million people in Kenya will likely experience acute food insecurity in March and June this year. About 970,200 children will likely suffer from acute malnutrition in 2023.
