Warring Ukraine has donated 25,000 tons of grains to Nigeria, pledging readiness to establish grain hubs in the country as well as other African countries.
The development, which is aimed at strengthening bilateral ties between Nigeria and Ukraine, was disclosed on Wednesday in Abuja, when Ukrainian Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, Mykola Solskyi, led a delegation to a discussion with the Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Mohammad Abubakar.
Ukraine has been in a war with Russia for nearly one year now, but has managed to retain a prominent place in global wheat production where it currently ranks 7th.
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Solskyi said the grains, which are expected to arrive Nigeria next month, are under the initiative called ‘Grains from Ukraine’, aimed at broadening the relationship between the two countries.
“Despite the war with Russia, the Ukrainian food industry wants to have closer relations with Nigeria and we are very thankful to you that your country is ready to develop these relations.
“Despite all the events going on in the world our countries are ready to develop this cooperation. The Ukrainian government and Ukrainian president are ready to pay a lot of attention to this development. We want to have regular contacts every year not only by our agriculture ministers but other ministers as well,” he said.
Nigeria and the rest of Africa were highly impacted by the disruption of global grain supply resulting from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The cost of food, which skyrocketed in the continent, is yet to be curtailed. Solskyi said the ‘Grains from Ukraine’ initiative will help to minimize the cost of food in Nigeria, which is a priority in the initiative.
“Development of such hubs will make it possible to bring in high quality grains into your country and it will influence prices in your country positively. Ukraine intends to develop two or three hubs in Africa and taking into consideration the capacity of your country, the grain hub in your country is priority number one. If we implement it well it would be a practical step towards businesses reaching a new level,” he said.
In his response, Onyeama lauded the initiative, especially as it is coming at a time when Ukraine is at war with a superior nation.
“Notwithstanding the situation in which your country finds itself, you are able to reach out a hand of friendship not just to Nigeria but to other African countries. This demonstrates superhuman courage and we really admire your generosity, we thank you for this support,” he said.
The Foreign Affairs Minister rued the impacts of the war which he noted to have also affected Nigerians schooling in Ukraine. He added that Nigeria will do its best to see that the war comes to a quick end.
“You have built up real specialization in many disciplines and Nigerian students are the beneficiaries. We can continue to strengthen relations between our two countries and our two peoples. We will do our best at the multilateral level to bring the war to a very quick end,” he said.
The Russia-Ukraine war has largely contributed to the high cost of flour in Nigeria as wheat imports decline. In 2021, Nigeria imported 51% of its wheat from the Baltic countries, where it is cheapest for its millers. But grain supply has been greatly undermined by, among other things, Western sanctions against Russia.
Against this backdrop, the African largest economy is forecast to import 6 million tons of wheat in the 2022-23 marketing year, a 3% decrease over the previous season, according to a Global Agricultural Information Network report from the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
With the depleted supply of grains, Africa has been seeking ways to increase production of wheat and other food products that the continent depends on importation to have. Minister of Agriculture and rural Development Mohammad Abubakar said during the meeting with Solskyi, that Nigeria is very willing and ready to provide the appropriate ports for this grain hub in the country.
“We appreciate and commend you that despite the war you still found time to extend a gesture of friendship to Nigeria and also donated grains. I can assure you that the relations with Ukraine will improve, we have been having businesses with Ukraine especially in the agriculture sector and I can say that over 30% of our agricultural businesses are with Ukraine especially in the area of wheat, fertilizer and other grains. And this I can assure you will continue to improve our relationship.”
The Agriculture Minister told journalists that Ukraine has the technology and know-how to help Nigeria in wheat production, adding that the initiative will strengthen the relationship between the two countries.
He explained that it is necessary to establish the grain hubs to enable Nigeria to have adequate storage for the grains that will be coming from Ukraine.
“We are looking at the Lagos Port and also Onne Port in Port Harcourt. The grains coming from Ukraine will increase the amount of grains here and the hub will eventually become a business hub with other African countries and beyond and it will help to stabilize the price,” he said.
The African Development Bank Group’s Board of Directors, had in May last year, approved a $1.5 billion facility to help African countries avert the food crisis emanating from the Russia-Ukraine war. The fund was aimed at developing the African Emergency Food Production Facility, which will supply African farmers with urgently needed high-quality seeds to immediately boost food supplies.
But the move is yet to fill the alarming gap that has resulted in great hunger in the continent. The African Development Bank said the disruption of food supplies arising from the Russia-Ukraine war puts Africa in a shortage of at least 30 million metric tons of food.