Russia prepared to give Africa free grain

Fans Malcolm

Staff Writer

#Russia, September 9, 2023 – Russia is prepared to broker a grain deal to give away the valuable food crops for free, but not with Ukraine— with its diplomatic allies in Africa.

In 2022 African countries were arguably some of the worst hit with food insecurity, contributed by the Russia-Ukraine War. However, many opted to stay neutral, preserving their diplomatic ties to Russia and the West simultaneously. So it comes as no surprise that after the collapse of the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Deal, several African countries came to the recent Russia-Africa Summit prepared to negotiate with the Eurasian nation to re-enter the deal so they could get food.

Instead, Putin announced this.

“In the coming months, we will be ready to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic and Eritrea with 25,000-50,000 tonnes of grain free of charge.”

It still leaves some of the countries with the most dire food insecurity including Ethiopia and Kenya, without a clear path to grain imports. The grain from the Black Sea Deal was shipped worldwide, not just to Africa and helped drive down the cost of food globally. But Russia announced in early July that it felt the deal was one-sided and was pulling out.

A day after the grain deal fell through, the country bombed a number of critical ports in Ukraine.

Grain prices globally shot up immediately and concerns were raised about what it would mean for food prices as the World struggles to recover from record inflation. For the six countries, those fears are now allayed but for the rest of the globe the message is clear, Russia is prioritizing its allies.

As prices rise globally, all countries will be affected especially those who do not produce their own grain.