Ethiopia First Recipient as Ukraine Ships Wheat to Africa

The first shipment of Ukrainian grain to Africa since Russia's invasion arrived in Djibouti on August 30, 2022. The grain will be distributed in Ethiopia to help the drought-stricken nation cope with worsening hunger that threatens to become a famine.

Russia invaded the Ukraine on February 24, 2022 and the blockade of Ukraine's seaports forced the country to halt nearly all deliveries of grain, which sparked concerns of a worldwide food crisis.

A settlement between Kyiv and Moscow that was mediated by the U.N. and Turkey in July 2022 - known as The Black Sea Initiative - saw a resumption in exports of wheat, other foodstuffs, and fertilisers from three Black Sea ports at the beginning of August this year.

Humanitarian organisations have said that parts of Ethiopia's northern Tigray region may be in a state of famine, because of the conflict there and a de facto humanitarian blockade imposed by Ethiopia's federal government.