The US allocates $3 billion to the Food Securities Fund. And what of it for Ukraine?

Global food crisis does not leave the media agenda in spite of formal stabilisation of grain prices.

Vitaliі Kravchenko, 23 september 2022, 08:30

After five months of decreasing the FAO food price index the global hunger issue gets maximal relevance again. This occurs as the review of the Istanbul Agreement comes, which granted a short-term opportunity for Ukraine to export its grain cargoes from the Black Sea ports. Although these facts barely arise one from another, Ukraine can take advantage of the actual situation. Mind found out how exactly.

For whom and for what does the White House allocate funds?

The day before in his speech before the UN General Assembly the US President Joe Biden announced an allocation of additional $2.9 billion to the Fund for settlement of the food security problem in the world, which has increased due to russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This money “builds on the $6.9 billion in US government assistance to support global food security already committed this year.” is said in the White House statement.

About $2 billion will be distributed through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to finance providing food assistance to countries that suffered most. Over $780 million will go for funding the support of farmers for developing stable methods of growth and for improving the food delivery system.

$200 million more will be channelled through the United States Department of Agriculture for programmes related to children’s catering at schools in Africa and East Asia countries; the same amount will be used for promoting eco-friendly agricultural projects.

Why is it now when the decision for announcement was made?

The new allocation is the response to the increased concerns related to starvation in the whole world because of rising prices for foodstuff, fertilisers and energy carriers. “This new announcement of $2.9 billion will save lives through emergency interventions and invest in medium to long term food security assistance in order to protect the world’s most vulnerable populations from the escalating global food security crisis.” reads the White House statement.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Director-General Qu Dongyu has also confirmed that the issue of hunger has been escalating. According to him, the world is at risk of facing a food access crisis in the coming months, and “hunger levels are unacceptably high.”

США виділяють $3 млрд у фонд продовольчої безпеки. Що з цього Україні?

What does Ukraine have to do with all this?

Prolonging Ukraine's grain deal is one of the factors that could prevent the increase of hunger. And this fact is now indubitable for the world political elites.

“The US will insist on extending the validity of the agreement between russia and Ukraine concluded with the mediation of the UN and Turkey, which allows the export of grain and other agricultural products from the Black Sea ports,” said the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. According to him, “the [Istanbul] deal needs to be renewed… [this] is an urgent task.”

“We call on all countries to refrain from imposing a ban on the export of food or the accumulation of grain, taking into account the suffering of so many people,” pointed Joe Bined in his turn.

It should be reminded that russia’s president vladimir putin stated recently that russia may quit the deal because, as far as he knows, grain is shipped from Odesa not to the poorest African countries as it was stipulated for, but to the thriving EU. That these claims were invalid, Mind wrote here.

The kremlin’s official position is that hunger is fueled by antis-russian sanctions of the West, precisely those against exporting fertilisers.

Ukraine has actively exploited the capabilities of the sea grain corridor, which was opened in August. And keeping it means critically for the agricultural industry and the economy in general. September was the first month since the start of the war when over 1 billion tonnes of wheat was exported, commented the Ministry of the Economy.

“As of 21 September, we have exported 1.11 million tonnes of wheat. The overall export in the last three week of September was 6.47 million tonnes (including 1.38 million tonees of corn, 1.11 tonnes of wheat, 562,000 tonnes of rape, 338,000 tonnes of seed-oil, 275,000 tonnes of barley,” said the Ukrainian trade representative Taras Kachka.

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