Ukraine annually feeds about 400 million people around the world. This means that the continuation of the "Grain Agreement" is important for all the countries in order to prevent a global food crisis. We must extend "grain corridor" functioning with the support of international partners.
Therefore, on October 20, representatives of the associations Ukrainian Agri Council, Ukrainian Agribusiness Club and Ukrainian Grain Association signed a joint appeal to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and leaders of African, Asian, European and other countries of the world with a request to do everything possible to continue the action of the Initiative on the safe transportation of grain from Ukrainian ports in order to further ensure global food security.
This was announced by agricultural associations during the press conference "Grain corridor: why is it necessary for Ukraine and the world?" on the "Ukrinform" platform on October 21.
"The beginning of the "Grain Agreement" became a signal for farmers that it is possible to sow winter agricultural crops. The agricultural sector works in extremely difficult conditions. In both temporarily occupied and recently liberated territories, as well as in relatively safe territories, there is only one problem - the sale of products. If the agreement is terminated, then the spring sowing campaign is in question, it will be impractical to sow. The agricultural sector is the locomotive of the Ukrainian economy, and if it stops, the country will lose a lot, because even before the war, agricultural products accounted for 17% of GDP. I hope that common sense will prevail and the agreement will be extended," Andriy Dykun, president of the Association of Milk Producers and chairman of the Ukrainian Agricultural Commission, emphasized during the press conference.
On his Facebook page, Andrii Dykun notes that the importance of the "Grain Initiative" is confirmed by the figues:
"Currently, the grain sea corridor provides 60% of all grain and food exports from Ukraine. 363 vessels with 8.1 million tons of agricultural products left Ukrainian ports during 3 months.
Also, I would like to note the influence of the "Grain Initiative" on stabilization of food prices in the world. The FAO food price index fell to 136 points in September, versus a record index of 160 points.
For Ukrainian farmers signing and extension of the "Grain Agreement" is a signal to sow in the spring.
We hope that the Agreement will be extended. Just as Ukraine will win the war, common sense will win in this issue."
Press service of the Association of Milk Producers