Ukraine and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) plan to deepen strategic cooperation within the framework of the Food from Ukraine humanitarian initiative, develop international agrohub networks, and scale up humanitarian mine clearance and rural community recovery programs.
The parties agreed on this during a meeting between representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture and the WFP delegation, the Ukrainian ministry reported.
A key topic of the discussions was scaling the Food from Ukraine humanitarian initiative as the next phase of the Grain from Ukraine program. This involves a gradual shift from raw material exports to creating a network of international agro-food hubs in countries across Africa and the Middle East.
“A promising direction of our cooperation is the development of the Food from Ukraine initiative and the agrohub network in Africa. We have already moved to practical steps with the launch of the first hub in Ghana and plan to scale this initiative in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the UAE. This model allows us to simultaneously support Ukrainian farmers and help Global South countries overcome food crises. We count on WFP’s continued leadership in partnership with Ukraine to scale Food from Ukraine,” said Oleksiy Sobolev.
The first regional agrohub is planned to be established in Ghana, where reconstruction of warehouse and production facilities has already begun, along with local production of pasta from Ukrainian flour. The ready-made food kits are expected to combine Ukrainian and local products and will function as regional logistics centers for rapid response to food crises. The parties also focused on expanding cooperation between WFP and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in humanitarian mine clearance and land recovery.
WFP was among the first international partners to support Ukraine’s compensation program for farmers covering mine clearance. The program is now being scaled to cover 100% of the costs of clearing agricultural land, while the Humanitarian Demining Center strengthens its coordination role in the process. Two models of further cooperation are under discussion: WFP funding with tenders conducted through Ukrainian mechanisms, or involving national expertise during procurements under WFP procedures.
The parties confirmed their intention to continue high-level engagement, expand WFP–FAO cooperation in mine clearance and land recovery, and ensure implementation of WFP’s Temporary Strategic Plan in Ukraine through 2027. Ukraine and WFP reaffirmed their shared goal of strengthening national institutions, accelerating agricultural sector recovery, and delivering tangible socio-economic benefits both to Ukrainian communities and to countries in need of critical food assistance.
