Hiiraan Online

Mogadishu (HOL) - International aid agencies have expressed concern over the 60-day extension of the Black Sea Grain Deal, which permits the export of essential grain supplies from Ukraine. The deal was set to expire on March 18, 2023, but it was renewed for 60 days. While the renewal is positive news, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) believes that 60 days is not sufficient, and that a longer extension is needed.

The IRC has warned that countries in East Africa, including Somalia, rely on the Black Sea Grain Deal for more than 90% of their grain supplies. Ukraine is currently facing an unprecedented drought and the threat of famine, making it critical that the deal is extended further. Without an extended agreement, countries across East Africa will face a precarious hunger situation, which could worsen during the lean grain season.

To avoid this scenario, the IRC urges the UN and member states to consider a 12-month extension after the 60-day renewal period. Doing so would help reduce pressure on food prices and limit speculation on grain futures while ensuring that grain reaches the countries most in need, including those in East Africa.

In addition to the grain deal, the IRC calls on the UN to re-energize its High-Level Task Force on Preventing Famine. The IRC believes that the task force should prioritize countries at the highest risk, including Somalia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Northeast Nigeria, South Sudan, and Yemen. The IRC argues that the task force should expand its membership to include international financial institutions, local and international NGOs, leading and emerging donors and engage closely with affected states and populations annually. The task force should focus on unlocking the political will to respond to a famine risk, mobilizing investments at scale to respond to early warning systems and coordinating collective action across the international community.

The IRC also suggests that the UN increase the ability of acutely malnourished children to access lifesaving treatment by adopting simplified approaches that are effective and efficient. Currently, sixty million children under five are experiencing acute malnutrition, including 18 million children living in conflict and crisis-affected contexts. In Somalia, for example, half of all children suffer from acute malnutrition, and two million die each year. Treatment with a fortified peanut paste, known as ready-to-use therapeutic food, allows the majority of acutely malnourished children to recover in a few weeks. However, the IRC argues that this lifesaving treatment does not reach 80% of the children in need due to an overly complex and clinical approach to treatment and lack of sustained funding. To address this, the IRC has developed a simplified treatment protocol that can be delivered by community health workers, eliminating unnecessary duplication, division, and complexity that impede the reach of the prevailing treatment protocol.

Mercy Corps Executive Director for Europe, Harpinder Collacott, has welcomed the Black Sea Grain Deal renewal but expressed concern that it was only extended for 60 days instead of the previously agreed 120-day timeframe. Collacott stressed that any extension of the grain deal is necessary to help ease global grain shortages and alleviate food insecurity in many parts of the world. However, she also argued that the root cause and solution for the worsening hunger catastrophe extend far beyond Ukrainian grain.