Kenya: 'Grain from Ukraine' lands tens of thousands of tonnes of wheat in Mombasa

Landing of cereals at the port of Mombasa (illustration image). © Gideon Maundu / AP

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

25,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat arrived at the port of Mombasa in Kenya. This is the first delivery in this country thanks to the "Grain from Ukraine" initiative. An operation launched by Ukrainian President Zelenski to help African countries in the grip of a major food crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.

Advertising

Read more

With our correspondent in Mombasa, Charlotte Simonart

The huge ship took more than a month to arrive here in Mombasa from the port of Odessa in Ukraine. A crossing possible thanks to the humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea but slowed down by Russian controls, as the captain explains: "Now when you go through the Black Sea, you are stopped for inspection. They look everywhere if we are not carrying weapons or whatever.

»

« Ensuring global food security »

A total of 25,000 tonnes of wheat financed by several European countries through the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). Quite a symbol for the Ukrainian ambassador to Kenya, Andrii Pravednyk: "We are happy that despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we are able to bring this wheat to Kenya. Ensuring the world's food security is not just about being responsible. It is also a diplomatic weapon. In this way, we are showing Kenya and the countries of Africa who is right and who is wrong.

»

A timely delivery

This delivery comes at the right time in a country hit by a major food crisis. The Kenyan vice president applauded: "This is very important because we have just gone through four seasons of insufficient rains. More than five million Kenyans suffer from hunger." But he does not see it as a rapprochement with Ukraine: "We do not deal with external problems. Anyone who wants to help us is welcome." This wheat from Ukraine will be distributed in northern Kenya.

► Also listen: Drought in Kenya, the great disruption (6 July 2022

)

Newsletter Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

Read on on the same topics:

  • Kenya
  • Trade and Commerce
  • Ukraine
  • Feeding
  • Raw materials
  • Climate change