Access Archives - World Food Program USA

SANA’A / ROME – A United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)-charted vessel departed today from the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Yuznhy (Pivdennyi) with wheat grain destined for the agency’s humanitarian response in Yemen.

This is the second maritime shipment of U.N. World Food Programme food assistance to leave Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict in February. The MV Karteria, carrying 37,000 metric tons of wheat grain, will stop first in Turkey, where the grain will be milled into flour. It will then be shipped to Yemen, where over 17 million people are struggling with severe hunger – a figure that is expected to rise in the coming months.

The grain will provide a 110 pound bag of wheat flour to nearly 4 million people for one month and will help the U.N. World Food Programme address immediate gaps in assistance.

“The war in Ukraine has been the last straw in Yemen against a backdrop of prolonged conflict, the resulting economic crisis and dwindling funds for humanitarian response,” said U.N. World Food Programme Representative and Country Director in Yemen Richard Ragan. “It is paramount to get commodities flowing back into the country and especially grain – for humanitarian and commercial purposes. This is vital to keep prices at bay.”

Getting Ukrainian grain to the U.N. World Food Programme’s humanitarian operations in Yemen will ensure a double benefit to both Ukraine’s economy and famine-risk populations in areas of the world hardest hit by the global food crisis such as Yemen. Yemen is particularly reliant on direct imports of wheat flour – a key staple in Yemenis’ diet – from Russia and Ukraine. An estimated 46% of Yemen’s 2021 wheat imports came from Ukraine and Russia.

The deterioration of global food security is caused by multiple factors with the impact of the Ukraine crisis, including the loss of Ukrainian’s grain on global markets as well as the impact on fuel and fertilizer prices, adding further pressure. This has now pushed this number of severely hungry people to a record 345 million in 82 countries.

There is no single solution to the global food crisis, but the unblocking of Ukraine’s seaborne exports will address some global supply disruptions and allow Ukraine to empty its grain storage silos ahead of the summer season harvest. The increasing traffic in and out of Ukraine’s port is a positive signal, but it remains far below pre-conflict averages.

This shipment is the product of strong collaboration between the government sector and the private sector, which is key in our response to the global food crisis. The shipment is possible thanks to generous contributions from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance and the foundation of Howard G. Buffett, a long-time U.N. World Food Programme supporter who formerly served seven years as a Goodwill Ambassador.

Video is available for use by news organizations. Please contact: marco.frattini@wfp.org

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The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

ROME – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is today calling for the re-opening of the ports in the Odessa area of southern Ukraine so that food being produced in the war-torn country can flow freely to the rest of the world, before the current global hunger crisis spins out of control

“Right now, Ukraine’s grain silos are full. At the same time, 44 million people around the world are marching towards starvation. We have to open up these ports so that food can move in and out of Ukraine. The world demands it because hundreds of millions of people globally depend on these supplies,” U.N. World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley said. “We’re running out of time and the cost of inaction will be higher than anyone can imagine. I urge all parties involved to allow this food to get out of Ukraine to where it’s desperately needed so we can avert the looming threat of famine.”

With ports blocked because of the war, millions of metric tons of grain are sitting in silos in Odessa and other Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea. More grain is stranded on ships unable to move because of the conflict.

Unless the ports are reopened, Ukrainian farmers will have nowhere to store the next harvest in July/August. The result will be mountains of grain going to waste while the U.N. World Food Programme and the world struggle to deal with an already catastrophic global hunger crisis.

The U.N. World Food Programme’s analysis found that 276 million people worldwide were already facing acute hunger at the start of 2022. That number is expected to rise by 47 million people if the conflict in Ukraine continues, with the steepest rises in sub-Saharan Africa.

Before the war, most of the food produced by Ukraine – enough to feed 400 million people – was exported through the country’s seven Black Sea ports. In the eight months before the conflict began, close to 51 million metric tons of grain transited through the ports.

The disruption caused by the war has already pushed prices on food commodity markets well above the record highs reached earlier this year. In the month after the crisis started, export prices for wheat and maize rose by 22% and 20% respectively, on top of steep rises in 2021 and early 2022.

Food price hikes, coupled with the soaring cost of fuel, are driving up the U.N. World Food Programme’s operational costs by up to $71 million a month, effectively reducing its ability to respond to hunger crises around the world. This is equivalent to the cost of providing almost 4 million people with a daily ration for one month.

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The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

Follow us on Twitter @WFPUSA and @wfp_media

ADDIS ABABA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today warned that its lifesaving food assistance operations in northern Ethiopia are about to grind to a halt because intense fighting has blocked the passage of fuel and food.

The escalation of conflict across northern Ethiopia means that no U.N. World Food Programme convoy has reached Mekelle since mid-December. Stocks of nutritionally fortified food for the treatment of malnourished children and women are now exhausted, and the last of the U.N. World Food Programme’s cereals, beans and oil will be distributed next week.

“We’re now having to choose who goes hungry to prevent another from starving,” said Michael Dunford, the U.N. World Food Programme’s regional director for Eastern Africa.

“We need immediate guarantees from all parties to the conflict for safe and secure humanitarian corridors, via all routes, across northern Ethiopia. Humanitarian supplies are simply not flowing at the pace and scale needed. The lack of both food and fuel means we’ve only been able to reach 20 percent of those we should have in this latest distribution in Tigray. We’re on the edge of a humanitarian disaster.”

More than a year into the conflict in northern Ethiopia, an estimated 9.4 million people require humanitarian food assistance. This is an increase of 2.7 million from just four months ago, the highest number yet. At the same time, because of fighting, food distributions are at an all-time low.

The U.N. World Food Programme plans to reach 2.1 million people with food assistance in Tigray, 650,000 in Amhara and 534,000 in Afar Region.

The U.N. World Food Programme also warns it will likely run out of food and nutrition supplies for millions of people across all of Ethiopia from next month due to an unprecedented lack of funding. The U.N. World Food Programme is calling for an additional $337 million to deliver its emergency food assistance response in northern Ethiopia and $170 million to reach those affected by severe drought in Somali region over the next six months.

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The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. We are the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

Follow us on Twitter @WFPUSA, @WFP_Ethiopia and @WFP_Africa

ADDIS ABABA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has completed its first round of food distributions to people impacted by the spread of conflict into Afar and Amhara regions. However, a lack of supplies due to various impediments to the movement of humanitarian aid still sees distributions in Tigray lagging behind.

Since August 15, the U.N. World Food Programme has delivered food to almost 300,000 people in Amhara and Afar. The second round of food distributions has been ongoing in Tigray since May 27 and more than 2.4 million people have been reached with food assistance in the northwest and parts of southern Tigray.

“Anecdotal reports from all three regions suggest that food insecurity is rising as families flee from their homes and have their livelihoods destroyed,” said Michael Dunford, the U.N. World Food Programme’s Regional Director for Eastern Africa.

“In Tigray, the IPC released in June estimated that up to 400,000 people would be facing famine-like conditions by now and as teams struggle to get enough food assistance into the region the situation is becoming increasingly dire. In Afar and Amhara we’ve seen hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes and have their livelihoods destroyed. It is absolutely vital that we have the full cooperation and support of all parties to the conflict so that we can reach all affected populations with urgently needed food assistance before we have a humanitarian catastrophe on our hands across all of northern Ethiopia.”

WFP northern Ethiopia operations:

An additional 1.7 million people are facing emergency levels of hunger in Afar and Amhara regions, where over 840,000 people (700,000 in Amhara and 140,000 in Afar) have been displaced due to the current conflict, according the government estimates.
Round 1 distributions have been completed in Amhara, reaching more than 210,000 people with beans, cereals and vegetable oil. This includes families who have been displaced due to the conflict and those who have had their homes and livelihoods destroyed.
The U.N. World Food Programme has also been able to transport more than 2,200 metric tons of food assistance on behalf of partners to Wag Hamra and North Wollo zones of Amhara. However, deliveries to communities located beyond lines of conflict have not been possible so far, threatening to cause a further deterioration in food security for families in those areas.
In Afar, the U.N. World Food Programme is close to completing round 1 distributions, reaching an initial 80,000 people impacted by the conflict. This number may increase to more than 500,000 people in the next round, subject to a formal request from the Government.
As of September 24, the U.N. World Food Programme has reached more than 2.4 million people with emergency food assistance across Eastern, Southern and Northwestern zones of Tigray. In the third round of distributions, the U.N. World Food Programme will reach nearly 2.7 million people after taking over Shire town and Tahtay Koraro districts in Northwestern Zone from its non-governmental food partners.
In September, the U.N. World Food Programme has so far reached almost 200,000 children under 5, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women, with nutrition assistance across 39 of the 71 targeted woredas in Tigray.
In Shire town in the Tigray region, teams have only been able to provide 4.5 pounds of beans per person for the food distribution due to unavailability of cereals and oil. Additionally, round 3 distributions, which were due to start early July, have not yet begun due to a lack of food inside Tigray.
There has been some positive news on the movement of humanitarian aid into Tigray in recent weeks. Five convoys – 171 trucks – entered Tigray between September 5-29, carrying a combined total of 6,150 metric tons of food and nutrition supplies. This is enough to feed more than 360,000 people for one month. Despite these recent convoys, only 11 percent of the humanitarian aid needed has entered the region. Additionally, as of September 30, more than 90 commercial trucks have exited Tigray and are now available for the movement of humanitarian aid into the region.
Fuel stocks in Tigray are running critically low. Fuel is vital to keep operations running and facilitating the movement of humanitarian aid into and across the region. We need 200,000L of fuel entering Tigray each week to keep operations running.
Across Ethiopia, the U.N. World Food Programme aims to reach 11.9 million people in 2021 with food, nutrition and cash support and delivering activities to boost communities’ self-reliance and food security.
The U.N. World Food Programme needs $184 million to continue to scale up its response in northern Ethiopia to save lives and livelihoods to the end of the year. For all activities under its Country Strategic Plan, the U.N. World Food Programme has a funding shortfall of $426 million. Additional funding is vital to allow the U.N. World Food Programme to keep saving and changing lives in Ethiopia.

Video footage of Amhara operations here

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The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. We are the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

Follow us on Twitter @WFPUSA, @wfp_media and @wfp_ethiopia