‘We need to lift the blockade’: Ukraine farmers unable to export grain
In a field near Odesa, Igor Shumeyko pointed to where a Russian rocket landed near his farmhouse. It blew out the glass from his windows. Three more missiles fell on a neighbouring plot but didn’t explode. “I was on my land when the invasion started. The Russians think we are slaves. But our guys are going to kick them out,” Shumeyko predicted.
In the meantime, the 42-year-old farmer acknowledged his industry is facing a heap of war-related problems. The biggest is what to do with this season’s crop, currently growing on his 1,000-hectare estate. The wheat is due to be harvested in late June and July. Next come sunflowers in August and September.
Before Russia’s offensive, Shumeyko would load the grain on to a truck. It would be transported 15 miles from his village of Velykyi Dalnyk to Odesa, Ukraine’s biggest commercial port. From there, food products continued their journey by ship across the Black Sea. Ukraine’s grain helped feed an estimated 400 million people. It went to Egypt, Tunisia and beyond.
Since 24 February, however, this maritime traffic has entirely ceased. Russia has blockaded and occupied all of Ukraine’s seaports. It has seized Mariupol and Berdiansk on the Sea of Azov, which is now a de facto Russian lake, and overrun Snake Island, a strategic base, allowing it to control shipping to and from the Dardanelles strait.
Ukraine can no longer export its agricultural produce. About 22m tonnes of food is stuck. Many farmers say they have no space to store this summer’s harvest. Others are building makeshift shelters. Shumeyko says he is running low on fertiliser, which used to arrive through Odesa. His last sacks of ammonium nitrate are stored next to his red tractor.
The UN World Food Programme has warned that
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