United Nations has requested the immediate reopening of the odessa port to relieve the world food crisis. In a message on Twitter, the executive director of the World Food Program has called to unlock the tons of grain in ukrainian waiting in the southern ports of the country to be exported.
“Ukrainian barns are full. At the same time, 44 million people around the world are close to famine. We have little time left. The cost of doing nothing will be much higher than people can imagine,” wrote David Beasley. The Russian Navy keeps the exits from Ukraine blocked to the Dead Sea and, in recent days, has intensified attacks on Odessa, the port city in southwestern Ukraine.
The war is not only affecting the exports of the world’s sixth-largest grain exporter. It has also been primed with production. A recent study by the consulting firm Kyrros maintains that, in the current circumstances, Ukraine will only be able to produce 21 million tons of wheat, a 23% less than the average of the last five years.
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frozen exports
The grain crisis has become one of the collateral consequences of the conflict in Ukraine. Last week, the director of the United Nations World Food Program warned that the war had completely frozen exports and right now 4.5 million tons of grain “are paralyzed in the country’s ports and ships and cannot be used.” A major problem that, according to Beasley, could have very serious consequences in the poorest countries. “First, there will be a collapse of the agricultural sector in the Ukraine. Second, famine will roam the world. The ports have to reopen and they have to do it now,” Beasley said on Saturday.