Black Sea Grain Initiative: Renewal gives Africa a painkiller, not a remedy
By
Pius Adeleye
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Posted on
April 6, 2023 12:47
FILE PHOTO: Commercial vessels including vessels which are part of Black Sea grain deal wait to pass the Bosphorus strait off the shores of Yenikapi during a misty morning in Istanbul, Turkey, October 31, 2022. REUTERS
A March 18 deadline was signalling the end of an eight-month initiative that ensured the flow of grain exports from Ukraine and Russia – at war with each other – to other vulnerable and food-insecure regions. Top diplomats and stakeholders relentlessly pushed for an extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which is now slated to end in May, but how beneficial to Africa has it been since the Eastern Europe battle broke out last year?
The initiative facilitates safe navigation for grains, foodstuffs, and fertilisers shipped from Ukrainian seaports. During the initiative’s first two terms, some 25 million tonnes of grain and foodstuffs had been exported to 45 countries. Prior to the war, Russia and Ukraine were among the world’s top ten wheat producers and among the five biggest exporters of grains and fertilisers to Europe, Asia, and Africa.
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