Articles Tagged with ''united nations''

As ships filled with Ukrainian grain leave Odesa ports for the first time in five months, the Ukrainian ag sector is cautiously optimistic that trade will save farmers, and the United Nations is hoping to see food prices drop for the neediest countries.

Stevedores at Odesa ports are loading ocean-going vessels with grain as Ukraine prepares to ramp up exports well beyond the comparatively meager amounts it’s been able to ship since Russia invaded five months ago.

Ukrainian ports in Odesa will begin exporting grain despite the recent Russian missile attack that threatened to skuttle a deal to allow trade to resume, according to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

A deal struck Friday to allow Ukraine to resume shipping grain through its primary Black Sea ports has been thrown in question after Russian missiles hit a grain silo and other infrastructure at a major port in Odesa, according to U.S., Ukrainian and Turkish officials.

Progress was made Wednesday toward an agreement to open up Ukraine’s main Black Sea ports and a deal could be struck soon, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Officials representing Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations met Wednesday in Istanbul in an effort to forge an agreement to allow Ukraine to resume exporting its corn, wheat and sunflower seed oil from the country’s primary ports, three of which are in Odesa.

The Biden administration on Thursday pledged to help repair Ukraine’s agriculture sector from the damages of the Russian invasion even as the war rages on and farmers struggle to bring in crops.

The war in Ukraine has laid bare the fact that agriculture is the key to national security. It’s a lesson that world leaders are taking to heart as they scramble to lessen global reliance on key sources of food and fertilizer, but it’s unclear if it will be too late to stop the slide from food crises to famine in some of the poorest and least developed countries.

An agreement to ban food export restrictions could be in reach for the World Trade Organization after years of failing to produce a major achievement.

Ukrainian farmers will begin harvesting millions of acres of winter wheat in July, but if Ukraine is unable to export it, the country’s economy will likely collapse and the hundreds of millions of people that depend on receiving that grain will suffer even worse than they are now, United Nations World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley said Wednesday.