The Summit highlighted the critical need to counter hunger weaponisation, address global food supply vulnerabilities, and reinforce international cooperation.
On 23 November 2024, Kyiv hosted the Third International Summit on Food Security, addressing the escalating global crises impacting the stability of food supplies, including military blockades, economic disruptions, and climate challenges. With an estimated one in eleven people worldwide malnourished, the summit underscored the urgency of assisting vulnerable nations and securing consistent food supply chains.
Since 24 February 2022, the military blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports has driven wheat prices to unprecedented highs. Damage to port and grain storage facilities, including those supporting the UN World Food Programme (WFP), compounded by landmines and power outages, has severely disrupted agricultural exports. This has affected approximately 400 million people reliant on Ukrainian produce.
Despite these obstacles, Ukraine has maintained its commitment to global food security. Launched by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 26 November 2022, the “Grain from Ukraine” humanitarian initiative has delivered over 255,000 tonnes of agricultural products to 12 food-insecure countries, aiding 8 million people. Recent shipments included 1,000 tonnes of wheat flour to Palestine.
In total, Ukraine is currently supplying by sea 46 countries, including Vietnam, Indonesia, and China. Since 16 August of 2023, thousands of vessels with 53,5 mln tons of agricultural products have used the Black Sea Humanitarian Corridor established by the Ukrainian Naval Forces after Russia had unilaterally abandoned the Black Sea Grain Initiative (launched in August 2022 with the diplomatic support of the UN and Turkey).
The sounds of fights in the fields of Ukraine are not such a distant echo for those who worry about having some bread for their children. Likewise, the horrors of torture by starvation are a terrible experience that virtually every Ukrainian family (especially in the central, northern, southern, and eastern regions) went through less than a century ago.
Every fourth Saturday of November the Holodomor Remembrance Day is observed – the tribute to the millions of innocent civilian victims of the man-made Great Famine of 1932-1933 engineered and orchestrated by the authorities of the Soviet Union that controlled the territory of Ukraine.
The scale of the tragedy was so impressive that the Holodomor (Great Famine) was recognized as genocide of the Ukrainian people not only by Ukraine after its independence, but also by parliaments of dozens of foreign countries.
People were not only deprived of food but also banned from leaving the regions affected by the famine. Moreover, the Soviet authorities denied the facts and refused international humanitarian aid. As a result, in some Ukrainian villages, half of the population died of starvation and all others were on the verge of survival because of severe malnutrition. It was especially dramatic because Ukrainian black soil has always been considered the most fertile in the world, which is why Ukraine was known as the “breadbasket of Europe”.
In committing this crime, the Soviet authorities were motivated by the desire to break the backbone of the Ukrainian national resistance to being forcefully subjugated. They sought to intimidate, deprive of dignity, and destroy resilience, and then to break the will and deprive of freedom. It was a horrible and insidious blow, but our nation survived and through the years nurtured its culture, identity, and dreams of independence.
For us today, the historical parallels with those events are obvious, and we do not want to and will not remain bystanders. Ukraine is committed to spare no effort to maintain and expand lifelines stretching from our farms and fields through our Black Sea port facilities to the countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. We won’t give up until the terror is defeated and won’t set back in defending the right for everyone to live and thrive in no fear for tomorrow.
And, of course, we are deeply grateful and highly appreciate all international partners who assist us in this important cause, value humanity, and strive to restore security. We are stronger together, and with joint efforts, life will prevail much faster.
Source: H.E. Kateryna Zelenko, Ukraine Ambassador
