One in five Ukrainian families faces food shortages – UN Security Council

Every fifth Ukrainian family is facing some degree of acute food shortage, especially those living near the war zone.

Source: Matthew Hollingworth, World Food Programme (WFP) Representative in Ukraine, during a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, 21 November; Ukrinform

Details: Ukraine, which used to feed 400 million people worldwide annually before the beginning of the full-scale war, is now facing a food problem: people face challenges accessing food in 80% of settlements near the contact line.

More than 900,000 people "living within 30 kilometres of the frontline" are experiencing the most acute food needs, which worsen in winter, the official added.

Hollingworth stressed that "in one of the world’s most formidable breadbaskets, there are hundreds of thousands of people living in proximity to the hostilities that now depend on humanitarian food assistance".

The programme representative said WFP will supply food to about 750,000 of these people over the winter. An additional 1.5 million civilians will also receive financial assistance in areas directly affected by the hostilities.

The official noted that a total of 31 attacks on facilities crucial to grain production and export have been recorded since mid-July. Twenty-eight occurred in Odesa Oblast, where vital Black Sea and Danube River terminals "crucial to grain production and export" are located.

Ukraine accounted for 9% of global wheat exports, 15% of maize and 44% of sunflower oil until February 2022, the WFP representative mentioned.

The official said Ukraine has suffered US$40.2 billion in losses to the agricultural sector.

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