Minderoo Foundation support package to help ease global food crisis

Minderoo Foundation has announced a multimillion-dollar support package that will ease the global food crisis by helping ship Ukrainian grain, bringing relief to some of the millions on the brink of starvation.

Minderoo Foundation helped fund the first maritime shipment of Ukrainian wheat grain from the war-hit country for humanitarian operations run by the UN World Food Programme (WFP). This comes after the signing of the United Nations-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative by both Russia and Ukraine.

The shipment of 23,000 tonnes of wheat grain left the port of Yuzhny, Ukraine, on Tuesday, 16 August, headed for WFP’s humanitarian response in Ethiopia, where millions across the drought-hit Horn of Africa are at risk of slipping into worsening hunger, even famine.

“Getting the Black Sea Ports open is the single most important thing we can do right now to help the world’s hungry,” WFP Executive Director David Beasley said.

While 90 per cent of Ukraine’s wheat and grain is shipped to world markets by sea, Black Sea maritime shipments have been significantly curtailed due to the conflict and the Russian naval blockade.

Minderoo Foundation Chairman, Andrew Forrest, said that many low-income countries, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, are heavily dependent on food exports from Ukraine to feed their people.

“The longer-term impact of Minderoo Foundation’s contributions will help curb hunger in Africa, strengthen food security in Ukraine, protect the livelihoods of Ukrainian farmers and ensure other countries’ access to adequate supplies of grain, at a manageable cost,” he said.

Nicola Forrest, Co-Chair and Co-Founder of Minderoo Foundation, said the food crisis had emerged because of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and that Minderoo Foundation was backing practical solutions that could be implemented at pace.

“People across the world are going hungry and suffering unnecessarily through no fault of their own,” Mrs Forrest said. “We hope our support helps to alleviate this.

“We at Minderoo Foundation stand resolute in our support of Ukraine and the brave Ukrainian people.”

Ukraine’s Ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, thanked Minderoo Foundation for its support and urged other private donors to assist Ukraine in her hour of need.

“Assistance should not be exclusively in the realm of foreign aid or governments. Philanthropy and business have a key part to play in the Ukraine recovery,” Ambassador Myroshnychenko said.

“This is the kind of thing which citizens around the world can do. Citizens must stand up to tyranny with what they have.

“Minderoo Foundation is setting an example; we need other citizens and organisations to follow.”