At its 2-months mark, around 5 ½ million tons of grain and other foodstuffs were moved under the Black Sea Grain Initiative on about 255 ships from three key Ukrainian ports (Chornomorsk, Odesa, and Yuzhny/Pivdennyi) to their final destinations worldwide. With the current pace, some 4-5 million tons of Ukrainian grain could be transported monthly through a safe maritime humanitarian corridor to the global markets.
“(The) Black Sea Grain Initiative for Ukraine, for me personally, for the city of Odesa, for the whole world it’s a very very important agreement”, said Dmytro Barinov, Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Seaport Authority. “It gives the possibility to get Ukrainian farmers money for their products, for their workers, port workers to work and get their salary. The people around the world get their food, feed their families. For the international community to give some normalization to the food crisis. People open their stock as they realize that Ukraine returns on the agricultural market”.
The Black Sea Deal is not just significant to get food to the markets and bring prices down, but also providing an avenue for farmers who produce grain and other crops in Ukraine to see it exported so that it empties their warehouses and their next crop can come in.
“Having that corridor open, knowing that these huge stocks that are available can get to the market is impacting the market in many ways”, said Amir Abdulla, UN Coordinator for the Black Sea Grain Initiative. He added saying that “if we do not have these food stocks get out of the markets, if farmers don’t see their food exported, or they see the risk that their next harvest will be lost in the fields, that will lose the incentive for them and it’s just not the next harvest , it’s the one after that that is at risk and so we sometimes see the price not just as providing food to markets, but we see it as an initiative that will save the next crop”.
Although there are other ways of transportation to get Ukrainian commodities out of the country, the sheer volumes than can come on a maritime corridor shows that it’s the cheapest and most efficient way to move commodities in large quantities.
“We have alternatives, we have land borders, we cross it by railway, by trucks, at the Danube ports”, said the Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Seaport Authority. “But, for sure, we can’t change the Black Sea biggest port for the smallest port on the Danube River. That’s why for the world, for the World Food Programme, for the poor countries, it’s very very important that this corridor is still working”.
One part of the initiative, to move fertilizer as one of the key commodities along the corridor, hasn’t been managed yet.
“Getting fertilizer and ammonia - to produce fertilizer - through this corridor is going to be hugely important, not just because we need to get these commodities out, but they are going to be crucial to how much food is available, next year, next season”, said Amir Abdulla. “The seasons and the crops that have been planted now, when they come to their harvest season, if they have not had adequate and sufficient fertilizer at reasonable prices, we are going to see scarcer availability and higher prices of food”.
In 2 months, by mid-November, the current Initiative may extend beyond its initial 120 days after the signing date of 22 July, if parties so choose.
“If we can keep this corridor open, it will make a huge difference to the worlds market and prices availability and for everybody”, emphasized the UN Coordinator for the Black Sea Deal. “And to the people to whom it matters most, those who are really at the lower end of the economic scale that’s where it matters most, because when food prices go up, marginally or even significantly, the people who get impacted most are the people who have the least purchasing power”.
-ends-
STORY: Black Sea Grain Initiative – Part 2
TRT: 3:32”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATIVE
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 30 September 2022 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , UNOG
Over 11.6 million refugees risk losing aid access due to funding cuts, says UNHCR
Approximately one in three refugees and other vulnerable individuals normally supported by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) are expected to lose out from funding cuts, it said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, made the following announcement on the Office’s opening of a new mission in Bangladesh.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
“The surge in the number of Afghans forced or compelled to return to Afghanistan this year is creating a multi-layered human rights crisis requiring the urgent attention of the international community,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday called for accountability and justice for the killings and other gross human rights violations and abuses in the southern city of Suweida.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR
Syria: hundreds killed in Sweida, ‘widespread’ violations as civilians flee for their lives
Amid violent clashes in southern Syria’s Sweida governorate, a picture of grave human rights abuses and rising humanitarian needs is emerging by the hour, the UN said on Friday.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva the UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell made the following statement on the latest number of civilian casualties in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday called for investigations into hundreds of killings of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank by Israeli security forces and settlers, warning against ongoing forced mass displacement of the Palestinian population.
1
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR , UNRWA
Nearly 900 people have been killed in Gaza in recent weeks trying to fetch food, with most deaths linked to private aid hubs run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the UN Human Rights Office have today released a report detailing the evolution of violent gang incidents beyond the capital Port-au-Prince since October 2024 up to June 2025, and the resulting loss of life and mass displacement.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , OHCHR
Gaza: ‘Unacceptable’ choice between getting shot or getting fed – UN humanitarians
Following the deaths of several children in an Israeli strike on Palestinians waiting in line for nutritional supplements in central Gaza on Thursday, UN humanitarians have once again condemned the killings of people at aid distribution sites in the enclave.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the United Nations bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights made the following comments on the recent violence in Kenya.
1
1
1
Edited News | ITC
US tariffs uncertainty hurts world economy, with poorest countries hit hardest – top UN economist
A new US decision to further delay the end of a 90-day pause on tariffs is bad for business, a top UN economist said on Tuesday.